A Famine Not of Bread

Click here to listen to this sermon. “The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, crying out, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!’ And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, ‘Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!’ His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about Him and had been done to Him” (John 12:12-16). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Palm Sunday processions come in many shapes and sizes. In some churches, they gather in the parking lot. Palms are distributed and blessed and then the crucifer leads then up the doors of the church. There, the crucifer lifts up the processional cross like a javelin and pounds th...

"Christ Entering Jerusalem" by Giotto di Bondone Click here to listen to this sermon. And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified (John 12:23). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! My cousin likes to tag me on social media with some of his religious humor. Just last week, he offered this one: Pontius Pilate says to Joseph of Arimathea, “Joseph, I really don’t understand. You’re one of the richest men in the region, and you’ve spent a small fortune on a new tomb for you and your family and you want to give it to this man, Jesus?" Joseph replies: “It’s just for the weekend.” It’s a joke, of course, but it’s true. Jesus was buried in a borrowed tomb. But it was just borrowed for the weekend. He was checked in before 6:00 pm on Friday and checked Himself out early Sunday morning. However, the tomb was not the only thing Jesus “borrowed” during Holy Week. For you, Jesus goes from borrowed donkey to borrowed r...

Click here to listen to this sermon.  "Jesus before Pilate: First Interview" by James Tissot     

"Entry of the Christ into Jerusalem" by Jean-Leon Gerome Click here to listen to this sermon. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! We live in an impatient world. Just look at our holiday observances. Black Friday is supposedly “the official start of the Christmas season.” But did you notice the Christmas decorations on the shelves right next to the Halloween candy this year? The world celebrates its holidays in advance. What it calls “Christmas”—the decorating, the feasting, the nostalgia—everything is done prior to December 25 th . Then people open presents, and that’s that. By December 31st, trees are hauled out to the dump and everyone’s gearing up for the Super Bowl. Advent, which begins today, is the time of the Church Year that’s most out of step with the concurrent cultural celebration. It is never harder to preach about John the Baptist than when people are humming “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Throughout December, the world i...

"Christ's Triumphal Entry in Jerusalem" by Felix Louis Leullier Click here to listen to this sermon. "See now that I, even I, am He, and there is no god beside Me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of My hand” (Deuteronomy 32:39). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! The Lord contrasts the worthlessness of the false gods and idols that many of the people of Israel had been worshiping with the greatness of Himself. “See now that I, even I, am He, and there is no god beside me” (v 39). The repetition of “I” by the Lord here is emphatic! That is, “I and only I am God. There is no other God.” This is the name by which God revealed Himself to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM,” in Exodus 3:14. The Lord is the living God, the only true God, which He reveals in His Word and in His actions, and which the people of Israel had experienced, seen, and heard. The Lord reminds them, “I kill and I make ali...

"Christ's Entry into Jerusalem" by Benjamin Robert Haydon Click here to listen to this sermon.  "The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, crying out, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!’ And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, ‘Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!’ His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about Him and had been done to Him” (John 12:12-16). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Palm Sunday processions come in many shapes and sizes. In some churches, they gather in the parking lot. Palms are distributed and blessed and then the crucifer leads then up the doors of the church. Th...