Palm Sunday - Who Is This?
Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He cannot be your King until He is your Savior. This was the bottom line from Nick’s sermon this past Sunday, connecting where we’re at in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7 with the Palm Sunday narrative found in chapter 21. The reality with the narrative of the Triumphal Entry through Holy Week to the crucifixion is the same people who were excited thinking the conquering king would relieve their earthly oppression would later join the shouts of “crucify Him” at the end of the week.
The “narrow gate” analogy from Matthew 7:13-14 sheds light on the reality that many will ignore or even actively reject the path of truth because their desire for comfort or ease makes them spiritually complacent.
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” - Matt. 7:13-14
The sin of this selfish complacency is rooted in idolatry and pride. We are made in God’s image and instead of allowing Him to reform the broken parts of us, we try to form God the way we want Him, in our image serving our whims.
This is a common struggle for all people, as we all must fight against the deceit of the enemy who wants us to believe the lie that life is about us, which produces self-serving fruit and not the fruit of the Spirit. Jesus made this reality clear in Matthew 7:15-20, pointing out you can recognize a tree or people by their fruit. Going back to the Triumphal Entry, there are those who at the beginning of the week cried “Hosanna” that would shout “crucify Him” at the end of the week.
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.” - Matt. 7:15-20
Those contrasting reactions from the crowd show the reality that Jesus cannot be your King until He is your Savior. In order to make Him Lord you must die to yourself, pledging that “oath of fealty” to Him as King and not yourself. This points us back to the Lord’s Prayer and the dependence and submission to God’s will over our own, because as Matthew 7:21-23 shows us, Jesus’ concern is not over our performance, but over the state of our heart. Have we submitted our will and efforts to Him or are we still trying to earn favor? Are we still trying to form Him into our vision of the king we want, or are we bending the knee to His will and sovereignty? Do we listen to His voice and enter the narrow gate or are we listening to our own voice or the voice of others and entering the wide gate? Jesus says in John 10:25-28
“I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”
This sheds light on the Matthew 7:21-23 passage where Jesus points out that many will think they’ve done the right things without their hearts being in the right place of submission to Him.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” - Matt. 7:21-23
Yes, this can sound harsh to one who chooses a self-centered view of spirituality, but the Good News of the Gospel is that Jesus doesn’t make it complicated, and though the gate of faith in Him and submission to Him as Lord is narrow, it still stands as an open invitation with all of creation (Romans 1:19-20), conscience (Romans 2:14-16) and Scripture pointing to Him.
'Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”' - John 14:6