Palm Sunday + Passover
PALM SUNDAY: JOHN DRIVER
To view these notes as a PDF, click here.
The Street of Acceptance
John 12:12-16 (NIV) 12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 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!” 14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written: ‘Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.’ 16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.
The Temple of Rejection
Mark 11:15-17 (NIV) 15 On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, 16 and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 17 And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”
The cross was the ultimate intersection of the street of acceptance and the temple of rejection, forever reconciling Christ’s life with our death.
Colossians 1:19-20 (NIV) 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
PASSOVER: ANDREW WHARTON
Two big, beautiful, wonderful celebrations commemorate the life of Christ.
Christ’s Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, and the Passover meal.
The table is a place of relationship, covenant, hospitality, restoration and the kingdom of God.
Passover was a direct finger point to the cross where true freedom in Christ is found, because the One sacrificed for all.
Luke 22:7-20 (NLT) 7 Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread arrived, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed. 8 Jesus sent Peter and John ahead and said, "Go and prepare the Passover meal, so we can eat it together." 9 "Where do you want us to prepare it?" they asked him. 10 He replied, "As soon as you enter Jerusalem, a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him. At the house he enters, 11 say to the owner, 'The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?' 12 He will take you upstairs to a large room that is already set up. That is where you should prepare our meal." 13 They went off to the city and found everything just as Jesus had said, and they prepared the Passover meal there.
14 When the time came, Jesus and the apostles sat down together at the table. 15 Jesus said, "I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins. 16 For I tell you now that I won't eat this meal again until its meaning is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God." 17 Then he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. Then he said, "Take this and share it among yourselves. 18 For I will not drink wine again until the Kingdom of God has come."
19 He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this to remember me." 20 After supper he took another cup of wine and said, "This cup is the new covenant between God and his people--an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.
Exodus 12:13 (NLT) But the blood on your doorposts will serve as a sign, marking the houses where you are staying. When I see the blood, I will pass over you.
1 Corinthians 5:7 (NLT) “Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us.”
John 1:29 (NLT) “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
Prior to the cross we are saved by works of the passover Law. So we are saved by works, just not ours.
We are saved by Jesus’ finished work on the Cross, which is a gift of grace. One we cannot earn.
The only thing we bring to the equation is our sin and the need for the finished work.
The Cross isn’t the end — it’s the beginning of a life of freedom, redemption, and intimacy with the Father and others.
The Cross — not just as a symbol of Christianity, but as the epicenter of God's love story.
The place where mercy met justice, where the greatest exchange in history occurred, and freedom in Christ becomes our lifestyle and hope.
THE CROSS
Its where he suffered and died for us.
It's where our shame is undone.
It's where our sin is fully paid.
It's where our identity is restored.
