The Triumphal Entry or The Tragic Entry?

As always, enjoy that worship. Matter of fact, I asked Brother Keith to sing one that we sing Wednesday night. I know I do that to him sometimes. So I will go ahead and tell you, if he repeats a song, if you think, "Well, didn't we sing that last week?" It could be because I've asked him to do that. I think about a line that we did sing earlier. He welcomes the weakest, the vilest, the poor. Think about that for a minute. All of us who have come to Christ, all of us who are in Christ, we were vile in our sin. We were poor and wretched. We had no hope. I couldn't help but write there in my notes, vile and poor, that was me.

And I'm very thankful for his salvation. I'm thankful for his grace and his mercy. So enjoy that worship. Well, like I said earlier in our scripture reading, we're going to be in Luke chapter 19. And I did say that I will call you to turn to John 12 a little later on. And the John 12 passages are extremely important, but the heart of the message will come out of Luke chapter 19, verses 28 down to verse 40, although verses 41 on down to verse 44 do have a bearing on some things that I want us to see. And as always, I encourage you to take good notes.

But then again, I don't want you to write and take notes in such a way where you can't follow what we're looking at. We have this happy medium. We want to strike this balance between getting what we have here this morning together and listening and then being able to go and take what we write down and go study on our own. And we're all different. The point of all that I say in times like this is that I want us to be good students. I want us to learn what we're studying together. But more than anything, I want God to do a work in us. Now, I think everyone knows here that this is what we would call maybe the Easter week.

Next week we celebrate Easter. Next Sunday is Easter on what we would call the Christian calendar. Now, if you're familiar with the Christian calendar, you know that today is traditionally called Palm Sunday. Now, celebrating Easter, I think most of us know, we're celebrating the crucifixion and the resurrection of Christ. Earlier in our scripture reading, I said that it really all goes together for me. It's kind of hard to look at Easter and not think about Christmas. It's hard to look at the resurrection and not think about the cross and the ascension. Really everything that Christ did.

But then when we're looking at Palm Sunday, Palm Sunday is studying the triumphal entry when Jesus was coming into Jerusalem. Now, just like Easter has a wonderful meaning for us, we need to see that Palm Sunday has a wonderful meaning as well. I don't know if you've been a part of church services or churches in the past who did recognize and focus on Palm Sunday. But if you've been a part of a Palm Sunday worship service, you've probably seen some very upbeat celebratory music that focuses on Christ.

And you've probably heard messages and teaching that centers around Jesus coming up to Jerusalem as the King of Kings, the promised Messiah of God. And of course, I think all of you know that all of these events are leading up to the cross. Now, Palm Sunday is a day when everything that John the Baptist's father, Zechariah, I think some of you know who Zechariah was. Everything that he spoke about came to pass. I mentioned John the Baptist and Zechariah and everything that went on in the book of Luke because those first few chapters are Luke or some of my favorite chapters in the scripture.

I love the story of Elizabeth and Zechariah and then Mary, the mother of Jesus. And her testimony as the Spirit of God came to her and told her that she was going to bear the Messiah. But think about what took place there. Zechariah prophesied about these great events starting in Luke chapter 1 there beginning in verse 67. And that prophecy spoke about all that God had promised starting with the Old Testament saints like Abraham and David and so many other Old Testament saints. So here we are at what we normally call, traditionally called Palm Sunday with next week being Easter. Now, I will say this.

There is a debate as to the timing of these events. Some scholars say that these events took place on Monday and some believe that these took place on Sunday. I will not get into the debate. It really doesn't matter. We know that this took place leading up to Easter and these Easter events. So I want us to go back to our scriptures and I want us to read them because I'm really not going to reference them much throughout the message. Let's go back starting in verse 28. Verse 28. "And when he had said these things, he went on ahead going up to Jerusalem.

And when he drew near Bethpage and Bethany out the mount that is called Olivet," that would be the Mount of Olives, "he sent two of his disciples saying, 'Go into the village that is in front of you where you are entering and you will find a cult, a young donkey tied up on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you why are you untying it, you shall say this, the Lord has need of it.' So those who were sent away, they went and they found it just as he had told them.

And as they were untying the cult, its owner said to them, 'Why are you untying the cult?' And they said, 'The Lord has need of it.' And they brought it to Jesus and throwing their cloaks on the cult, they set Jesus upon it. And he rode along and they spread out their cloaks on the road. And as he was drawing near, already on the way down the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude or crowds of disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all of the mighty works that they had seen, saying, 'Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord, peace in heaven and glory in the highest.' And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, 'Teacher, rebuke your disciples.' And he answered, 'I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones or the rocks would cry out.' Now we have read what is commonly called the triumphal entry.

As a matter of fact, your Bible, your translation probably has a heading there above verse 28. Now the triumphal entry is a part of everything going up to, leading up to, obviously, the cross. But you know, if we're honest here with this story, this really doesn't seem very triumphant. Think about that with me. This really doesn't seem very triumphant. The story tells us that Jesus came into Jerusalem on a donkey, a young colt, a young donkey. Now that doesn't seem very triumphant, does it? It would seem more triumphant if Jesus came into Jerusalem, maybe on a fine stallion, maybe on the finest of chariots of the day.

I thought about it like this. Everywhere he went, his disciples were with him. It would have been a little more triumphant but if he came in on a fine stallion with his disciples rotting behind him, maybe in a fine chariot, a warlike chariot, and his disciples behind him. As Jesus rode in on that day, the people were waving palm branches and laying their clothes out before him. That doesn't seem too glorious or triumphant for a king, does it? Palm branches, clothes laid out. That seems pretty common to me. Now if you notice what the people were saying and doing, they were chanting, they were declaring, they were raising their voice.

"Blessed is the king and peace in heaven." That doesn't seem too triumphant being that they were an oppressed people. They were occupied by Rome. It would have been more triumphant if they said something like this, "Blessed is the king who will kick out the Romans and restore Israel, oh, to the days of glory like they saw in the days of King David." Of course, we know the rest of the story in a few days, Jesus would be crucified as a common criminal. Death by crucifixion doesn't seem very triumphant. He was crucified as a criminal while the authorities released a criminal in his place. Barabbas, the insurrectionist.

So I think you see what I'm trying to say. And the question is this, how is this triumphant? Jesus coming into Jerusalem like we see here in the story. How is this truly triumphant? See, it depends on where you are in all of this. And I believe that we will be forced to see where we are in all of this when we look at the people involved in these events. You see, all that is taking place here was either triumphant or tragic. Everything that was happening here, everything that happened in these events, it was either triumphant or tragic. For some, all of these events were very triumphant.

But for others, everything was terribly, terribly tragic. As a matter of fact, that is really the title of the message. The title of the message is a question. The triumphal entry or the tragic entry. Now, to be honest with you, everybody here was on one side or the other. Everybody here was either on the triumphant side or the tragic side. I thought about it like this. There's no middle ground. I think one of the best illustrations to illustrate no middle ground is politics today. I've said this before. Usually you get in trouble when you talk about religion and politics. And I try to stay out of the politics.

In politics today, there is no middle ground. You're either on one side or the other. Well, that's what's happening here. That's what's taking place in all of these events. There are some, they are triumphant in these events. And then there are some, they are tragic. These events are tragic. The first thing I want us to look at is the purpose of all of these events. This is real simple. The purpose of all of these events. It is important to see that all of these events were leading up to the cross, everything.

Jesus had to go up to Jerusalem, not just because of geography, not because it was on higher ground, but he was going up to Jerusalem because he was going to the cross. Now, listen, church, a little application right away. Do not ever believe the lie that Jesus came to do something else besides die on the cross. First and foremost, Jesus came to die. He came to die on the cross and he came to die for the sin of man. And he also came to save a handful of men and women to begin the work of the New Testament church after he ascended back to heaven and the Holy Spirit was given.

And then he also came to teach and to demonstrate the life of a true follower of God. And you know, when you boil all of his ministry down, those were really the three things that he came to do. He did not come to bring social justice. He did not come to correct some evil form of government. And then on a more personal level, he did not come to help you achieve all of your dreams in life. And he didn't even come to give you a good and a happy life. Some of the most successful, spiritually successful Christians throughout church history didn't have a good and successful life by our standards.

He came to be perfectly obedient to the father and it was the father's will that Jesus die in the place of sin for man, the just for the unjust. But notice some specifics. Specifics here in the purpose. What about this cult that we've mentioned and read about? What was the purpose of Jesus riding in the Jerusalem on a young donkey? It was not uncommon for important people to ride animals like this. I mean, they were an agricultural society. Animals were everywhere. The sight of a man or a woman riding an animal was common.

But you know, if you go back into Old Testament history, Solomon, King Solomon, that would have been King David's son when he assumed the throne. He wrote a mule when he was placed on the throne at his very coronation. We see that in 1 Kings chapter 1, verse 32 to 40. But Jesus was communicating something here. And what Jesus did, he was communicating something and riding a donkey. And this is what he was communicating. Humility. It was all about humility. In his incarnation, Jesus left heaven and he came to earth in great humility, willing to die on the cross for the sin of man. But the second time Jesus comes, he'll come much different.

See, he will come in great glory and in power. And he will come to judge and to rule and to reign. But what about the palm branches? What about the clothes? What was the reason for the clothes and the palm branches and all of those activities? Now Luke's account does not mention the people waving palm branches like the rest of the Gospel accounts do. It's just that the Holy Spirit did not inspire Luke to record these parts of the events. But what was taking place here? What was going on? They placed their robes over the colt as a type of a blanket or a cushion for Jesus to sit on. This was a part of showing respect.

This was a part of showing honor and respect. And it was the same in lying out their clothes along the path. This was a sign of honor for a very important person. But what about the palm branches? Culturally, they were a symbol of joy. Culturally, they were a symbol of celebration and even victory. Palm branches were often used in celebration during certain Jewish festivals. And they were also used to honor royalty and very important people. And especially conquering soldiers as they came home from war. This was kind of like a victory parade.

And here the crowds were honoring Jesus as a conquering king by waving palm branches and laying them out and their clothes out beside the road as Jesus went by. But what about the praise? Why did the crowd say what they said here? What did all of this mean? Here the crowd was expressing that they believe Jesus to be the promised Messiah of God. Now in Matthew's account, Matthew tells us that the crowd shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David." Now the word Hosanna means save now. And the phrase Son of David was a common title for the Messiah. But an important question here. Was this true saving faith?

Were those in the crowds expressing a true saving faith? Well the answer to that is no. We will see that the crowds were not looking for a savior that would save them from their sin. But they were looking for a savior that would save them from Rome. They wanted a physical Messiah. They did not want a spiritual Messiah. You could say it like this. They were praising a Messiah of their own making. So we need to see the purpose and the purposes in all of these events. Now I started off with the ultimate purpose. And that was the cross. But I want to turn it around here in a summary.

Jesus rode in Jerusalem on a young donkey, not as a conquering king, but as a submissive savior. He came into Jerusalem not to defeat the Romans, but to defeat sin and death and the grave. And all of these other activities had purposes as well. The clothing on the donkey and along the path spoke of praise and honor and respect. The palm branches and the verbal praise did as well. They were acknowledging Jesus as their savior, as their king, as their Messiah. But their praise was a false praise because they were wanting a physical Messiah. They did not want a spiritual Messiah. And ultimately they did not want a suffering Messiah.

They wanted a conquering Messiah. A Messiah they had created in their own minds because that had nothing to do with the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah, the true Messiah of God. Now for us, we must see how this purpose applies to us. Yes, this purpose applies to us. They are meeting who sit in church services just like this. And they praise a Jesus that they have created. Think about that. It's true. There are many who come to church services just like this and they are singing to and acknowledging and saying that they are praising a Jesus, but it is a Jesus that they have created.

I've been addressing this in our study of our church confession on Wednesday night. You know, we come from a culture of decisionism. You know, we were raised in the Baptist church and it's been always about the decision for Christ and walk down the aisle. And see, there is a Jesus that we can create there. We can just decide to follow Jesus. And then there's this attitude of adding Jesus to our life. There's really no life change. We can have our name on the church roll. We can sit in the pew. We can go through the Baptist tree, but we've decided to follow Jesus and we've just added Jesus to our life to make our life better.

But God is teaching us and has been teaching us for years that that's not the Messiah, the Jesus, the salvation of the Bible. There's been an erroneous view about lordship and salvation and the Savior for years, especially in America. It's a Savior now and a Lord later view, but that's foreign to the scripture. There are some, they say that they have Jesus as Savior, but he's never Lord of their life.

And then there are some they'll say, "Well, he's Savior now and he's going to be Lord later." See what I'm trying to show you is there's a myriad, a whole host of ways where people invent a Messiah, a Jesus of the Bible, and they're worshiping something of their own creation. And what was Jesus purpose here? It was to go to the cross. It was to go to die for man. But number two, I want us to see the prophecies. I want us to see the Old Testament prophecies connected to these events. The prophecies that are connected to these events. Now, this might surprise some of you, but these events were spoken of long ago in the Old Testament scriptures.

See, the Old Testament is full. It is full of prophecies proving that Jesus was the Messiah of God. Now, I'm going to speak to three things here that are connected to these Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah. First of all, the manner in which Jesus came into Jerusalem. We've already discussed that some riding a donkey, a young colt. Yes. Matthew's account, Matthew 21 verses 45, it says, this took place to fulfill what is 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 fold of a beast of burden.

Now here, Matthew is quoting two Old Testament passages. Isaiah 62 verse 11 and Zachariah nine nine. And really, Matthew merges the two. Now listen to Zachariah nine nine. And you tell me if you don't see that right there in Matthew's account of the triumphal entry. Zachariah nine nine rejoice greatly. Oh, daughter of Zion shout aloud, oh, daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king is coming to you righteous and having salvation as he humble and mounted on a donkey on a colt, the fold of a donkey. So we see the manner in which he came to Jerusalem. It was prophesied so long before. And then the purpose in Jesus coming to Jerusalem.

Now remember his purpose. It was not to be a Messiah that the people wanted. They wanted a physical Messiah, not a spiritual Messiah. They wanted this militaristic Messiah, not a suffering and dying Messiah. And this was a fulfillment of so many prophecies. But I think about one Isaiah chapter 53, Isaiah chapter 53. And did you know that scholars, many scholars call Isaiah 53, the gospel according to Isaiah, because it speaks about Jesus and the cross so much. I want to read just a few verses out of Isaiah 53. I have studied this for years out of my old New American standards. So that's why I pick it up.

I'm just so familiar with these verses. Notice what verses 3 to 5 say in Isaiah 53. "He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and like one from whom men hid their face, and he was despised and we did not esteem him. Surely our grief sent he himself bore, and our sorrows he carried. Yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But he was pierced through for our transgressions, and he was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our well-being fell upon him, and by his scourging we are healed." Don't you see what Isaiah 53 speaks about?

Speaks about a Messiah, a suffering Messiah. Isaiah 53 speaks about the cross. And so the purpose in Jesus coming to Jerusalem, the cross, it was spoken of in the Old Testament as well. And then also in the praise here that came from the crowd. Yes, even the praise that was offered was spoken of in the Old Testament. Here in Luke's account, the crowd is quoting Psalm 118, verse 26. And we see this in the other gospel accounts as well, the gospel accounts of the triumphal entry. Listen to Psalm 118, verses 25 to 26, and see if you don't hear the echo of what is said in Luke's account.

Notice, "Save us, we pray, O Lord, O Lord, we pray, give us success." Verse 26, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." See, they were quoting Psalm 118. So in the Old Testament prophecies, we see the manner in which Jesus came to Jerusalem. He came as a humble king, not as a mighty warrior. And we see his purpose, which was prophesied all throughout the Old Testament. And we see the praise of the people as empty praise, but yet it was prophesied about. These events here all came from the Old Testament prophecies concerning the promise Messiah of God.

Now for us, in application, we must see that this is a Bible story, not a New Testament story. I've said this to you before. This is a Bible story. It's not just a Gospel of Luke story or Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John story. It's not just a New Testament story. This is a Bible story. Jesus, the cross, and all of these events are a Bible story. And listen, forever ago in eternity past, it was determined by God that all of these events would take place. This was plan A. There was never a plan B. And so we see that these events were spoken of in the Old Testament prophecies. Now before we get into the people, notice what we've seen.

The purpose in Jesus' entry into Jerusalem and the prophecies behind it all. Before all of these events ever happened, God said through his prophets that these events would take place. Jesus is going up to Jerusalem as a humble king, yes, but a king that was willing to suffer to save men. Jesus was entering Jerusalem to die in perfect obedience to God's eternal plan. And the self-serving, sinful desires of the crowds never swayed Jesus one bit. And what we have here is called the triumphal entry. I said earlier that this is either triumphant or tragic, and I know that that caught some of your attention.

And these events are either triumphant or tragic, and it depends on who you are. So we need to examine the people here. We need to examine the people here in all of these events. Now in examining the people, we do not have time to examine all that were involved. But I think we have two key people here, and they represent two groups. Two key people that represent two groups. And if we understand how these two people related to Jesus and all that is happening here, then I think we can say that we understand all people involved. Here's where I want us to turn over to John. I want us to go over to John chapter 12.

Now this is an event that is a few days before the triumphal entry. And I want us to read verses 1 to 8. We are familiar with these verses. "Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So they gave a dinner for him there, Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him there at the table. Mary therefore took a pound of an expensive ointment made from pure nard, and she anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

But Judas Ascariot, one of his disciples, he who was about to betray him said, "Why was this ointment not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor?" He said this not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief and having charge of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. And Jesus said, "Leave her alone so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. For the poor you will always have with you, but you do not always have me." Now two people. First, the person of Mary. This person of Mary. Now this Mary is the sister of Lazarus and Martha.

Now here we see that six days before the Passover, Jesus comes to Bethany and he comes to the home of Lazarus. And the text said that Lazarus and Mary and Martha gave a dinner for Jesus. Now think about what Jesus had done for Lazarus. If he had done that for you, would you give him an honor? A dinner in honor? Would you give him a dinner? Would you honor him? Yes. They were very thankful for their Lord. And in all that was going on here, Mary took a very expensive perfume and anointed the feet of Jesus. Now Nard was a very expensive perfume, and scholars tell us that this came all the way from the region of India and even Nepal.

And that amount that Mary possessed here was the equivalent of a year's wages. Now think about it. Imagine you using one year's salary or one year's earnings in something like this. Now there was a lot going on here. Not only did Mary use an unimaginable expensive perfume on Jesus, but she broke all sorts of social rules. Jews custom said that women would not be in the presence of men in this kind of circumstance. And it was especially forbidden for a woman to let down her hair in public like this. And all of this was totally forbidden in their culture, but she did it anyway. And what we have here is an extravagant act of love.

We have an extravagant act of worship and devotion. This was extreme, but this was honest worship, meaning she didn't do this for the approval of others. But you really need to see this. Take note here. Her actions were selfless. She was all done out of love. She was all done out of worship. This was done because God led her to perform these acts of worship. And notice what Jesus said. The remainder of the perfume could be used at his burial. Now, did she understand all of this? No, she did not, but she was acting in faith. She was acting in love and she was acting in worship and she was being led along by God.

But the second person, the second person is Judas, one of the 12. And we see Judas in this event. We read of him earlier starting in verse four. Now in Judas, we see the opposite, the total opposite of Mary. Judas protested what Mary was doing and said that the perfume could be sold and the money could have been used for the poor. Now that was a noble idea and it was a noble suggestion, but Jesus knew his heart. Did he not? He knew his heart. Jesus knew that Judas was a hypocrite and worse. He knew that Judas wanted to use the money for himself because Jesus knew that Judas was a thief.

And he knew that he was a liar and ultimately he betrayed Jesus to the religious leaders. And he knew that they would arrest Jesus. But we really need to see, we need to take note here of what we have. His actions were out of disappointment, but more his actions were out of a disillusionment and more. Ultimately, this boiled over into pure hate for Jesus. All along Judas was following Jesus for what he could get. He wanted power. He wanted money. He wanted position. He wanted an earthly Messiah and he thought that Jesus could give him what he wanted.

And Judas was realizing really fast that Jesus and his ministry was not going according to his plans. Now, did he know what he was doing here? Yes. He was acting out of disappointment, but more. He grew to hate Jesus so much that he was willing to sell out Jesus to the Jewish authorities. And he knew that they wanted to kill him. So in the event, we have two entirely different people. Both are followers of Jesus, but both are following for much different reasons. Mary acts out of an intense act of worship. True love, true discipleship, true worship. Which pointed to the cross. Everything she did pointed to the cross. Remember what Jesus said?

But Judas, he acts out of this growing disappointment. He was disillusioned and finally interrupted into hatred. Mary acts out of true surrender to Jesus, even though she could not fully understand what was going to take place. In Judas, he acts out as a fake surrender with a fake surrender to Jesus, even though he couldn't understand all that was going to take place either. Now for us, we need to see that all of us are either like Mary or like Judas. You're either a true follower of Jesus or you are a false follower of Jesus. See, everyone here today, you are either like Mary or like Judas. Now, some of you know who you are.

Some of you know the Spirit of God has been showing you throughout the days, the months, and the years that you are not a true follower of Jesus. Now, let me ask you a question here. Do you want to die as Judas? Judas died as a God hater. Judas died hating the very Messiah of God. And listen, although you might say you serve God, if you're not born of God, you will die as Judas and you will be numbered in eternity with all of the God haters. But there are some of you here, you are truly saved. You're like Mary. You're like Mary and you worship honestly with a true and noble heart because God's given you a true and noble heart.

And so the lesson for you is this. We must worship as Mary. We must worship wholeheartedly, holding nothing back, even being willing to make great sacrifices in our worship. Now, before I continue, I want you to pause with me for a minute. And I want you to think about who and what we are seeing here. Mary and Judas. To me, they represent two different groups of people that are here in these events. All of the events that led up to Jesus entering into Jerusalem and listening all of the events that led up to the cross and after the cross. See to me, Mary and Judas represent two different groups of people.

To me, Mary represents those who truly knew God. They love Jesus and they serve Jesus. Although they did not understand all that was happening, they follow Jesus by faith. They possess a true saving faith. But to me, Judas represents all of those who truly wanted a Messiah of their own making. They did not love and serve Jesus. They sought to use Jesus for their own wants and their own needs. And when he did not meet their expectations, they hated him. You see, for those who knew and loved and worshiped Jesus, they did not try to force Jesus to be a Messiah of their own making. They were true followers of Christ.

And for them, this ultimately was a triumphal entry. What did Jesus do for them? The true followers. He went to the cross. What did Jesus do for the true followers? He went to the cross and paid their sin debt. What did Jesus do for the true followers? He died in their place. And what did the triumphal entry point to for them? It pointed to the cross and it was a triumphal entry because he triumphed over death and over hell and over the grave for them. And what did their lives look like after the cross? What did their lives look like after the resurrection and after the ascension?

They were the ones that God used to birth the work of the church. They went on for Christ and they lived for Christ and his glory. So for the true followers of Jesus, this was a triumphal entry because Jesus conquered sin and death and the grave and they had a new life in Christ. But for those who did not know, love, and truly worship Jesus, they wanted a Messiah of their own making. They were not true followers of Christ and for them this was a tragic entry. What did Jesus do for them? He judged them. That's why we must look at verses 41 to 44. Back in Luke, verses 41 to 44.

And when he drew near and he saw the city, this was Jerusalem, he wept over it. And what is Jerusalem? The capital. The capital of Israel, okay? And what was he saying? Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace. What is Jesus doing? He is desiring that the crowds, the Jews would come to him. But now they are hidden from your eyes, for the days will come upon you.

When your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another in you because you did not know the time of your visitation. Now what is Jesus talking about here? He is speaking of what will happen to the nation because they rejected him. In 70 AD, the Romans laid siege to Jerusalem and the Romans destroyed the city, they destroyed the temple, and they destroyed the nation.

And secular historians and Christian historians tell us that thousands and thousands and thousands of Jewish men and women and children were slaughtered like animals. And the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple and the nation was God's judgment on the nation. For what? For rejecting Jesus as their Messiah. They were totally destroyed. And for those that rejected Jesus as the true Messiah, this was a tragic entry. A tragic entry because they ultimately were judged and destroyed because of their rejection. Now in closing, I would be negligent in my duty.

If I did not point out that we only have two kinds of people here this morning, you're either Mary or you're either Judas. You're either serving Jesus as a true follower or you're some kind of a faith follower. Now we must ask the question, how can we be a true follower? I have taught you thoroughly of the utter sinfulness of man. I have taught you thoroughly and faithfully that men and women and young people are utterly sinful and we have no hope for Christ other than by grace and other than by the work of the Spirit of God. And see, the only hope we have is the new birth. The only hope we have is to become a new creation in Christ.

I'm not talking about a knowledge of theology, about a knowledge of the Bible. I'm not talking about religious activity. You can have religious activity, knowledge of the Bible, and know all of the deep things about the scriptures and theology and doctrine, and still never know God. Remember Nicodemus, our friend in John 3. He comes to Jesus at night. He was the teacher of Israel. He was one of the most respected leaders in the land. And Jesus cut to the chase and said, "Nicodemus, you must be born again. You need a new heart. You need to be born from above." And that's the only way you become a true follower of Christ.

It's not about joining the church or being baptized or walking down an aisle. It is the miracle of miracles whereby you are given a new heart and God brings you to that point where he calls you to repent of your sin, to trust in Christ, to die to yourself and say, "Lord, I'm yours no matter what." Now, what are the consequences if you die without Christ? You must face that. You must look at that. You must look full into the mirror of the truth there. What are the consequences if you die without Christ? Those who die without Christ, they face a hell and an eternal damnation. They will be numbered with the God haters.

They will be listed with the God haters, with the revilers. And I would be negligent in my duty if I did not point you to that truth. And listen, if that's you, please do not sit any longer. Please do not just wait any longer. Don't procrastinate. Don't think that tomorrow is a better day. Don't do that. You know, I don't understand how it all works out with God's sovereignty and man's responsibility. But I think about all of the times that Judas saw Christ, heard Christ and watched some of the most glorious revelations of the deity of Christ, and yet he rejected. Don't be like Judas. Please don't be like Judas.

But also in closing, for those of us who know Christ, we should look to the events leading up to the cross in the empty tomb and worship. This is worship, folks. We should be like Mary. And how can we be like Mary? Let's meditate on Mary. Let's study Mary. And listen, let's just hold nothing back. Let's pay whatever cost we have to pay. Let's be undignified if we need to be. Let's not worry about what others may say. Let us come to the feet of Jesus and worship Him and serve Him and love Him. And listen, in our day and in our time, we do this in the work of the church. Kingdom work is the work of the church.

And the question is this, how can we worship like Mary in our own life? And how can we worship like Mary in the context of the church? So the title of the message is a question. You've seen it. The triumphal entry or the tragic entry. I hope it's the former for you and not the latter. So this is how we'll progress. We'll pray and we'll close this message out. And next week, we'll look at the cross and we'll look at the empty tomb and we'll worship and celebrate by protecting in the supper. Let's pray. We'll commit this to the Lord and then we'll be dismissed.