WEBVTT 00:00:19.000 --> 00:00:19.160 Hey, we are continuing our series, The Gospel in Color, today's is our second week in this. 00:00:19.160 --> 00:00:26.360 And we're going to go through, we're going through the last week of Jesus's life. 00:00:26.360 --> 00:00:31.800 And some of the different things that are happening, some of the stories. 00:00:31.800 --> 00:00:35.100 And we're gonna look at that today. 00:00:35.100 --> 00:00:39.720 So we're gonna, there's some history that I'm gonna try and give, so I got a lot. 00:00:39.720 --> 00:00:46.680 So lock in, I know for me, growing up in church. 00:00:46.680 --> 00:00:55.520 I didn't always hear the history of the story or the back story to all of it. 00:00:55.520 --> 00:01:01.800 And as I've kind of studied and listened, learned throughout, 00:01:01.800 --> 00:01:06.480 man, it's almost been 15 years of working in ministry now. 00:01:06.480 --> 00:01:14.080 It's like, I've seen a lot more of how it all ties together and 00:01:14.080 --> 00:01:22.720 it's taken the idea behind this in colors, it's taken this gospel idea that was kind of black and white. 00:01:22.720 --> 00:01:30.800 And gave it more like color, like full color depth, made it 3D. 00:01:30.800 --> 00:01:36.040 And there's just so many details that I think we need to look at. 00:01:36.040 --> 00:01:43.760 So that's the idea of this in color series is to show us how we kind of shine a light on 00:01:43.760 --> 00:01:50.480 everything that is happening that we really, it brings things to life and it animates this story much more. 00:01:50.480 --> 00:01:56.720 And it gives us really what's happening because there's so much during this last week of Jesus's life, 00:01:56.720 --> 00:02:02.960 there's so much that is happening that is callbacks and that that are protest. 00:02:02.960 --> 00:02:11.600 And like Jesus is making points and not just like little point, like these are, these are big. 00:02:11.600 --> 00:02:14.600 And they're points that eventually get him killed. 00:02:14.600 --> 00:02:18.760 And so we're going to look at all the different aspects of this. 00:02:18.760 --> 00:02:27.880 So today we're jumping in a story about Jesus his last week before he was arrested and before he was taken to the cross. 00:02:27.880 --> 00:02:37.200 And this is the week where Jesus comes back to Jerusalem and he doesn't do it quietly. 00:02:37.200 --> 00:02:53.400 There's two demonstrations that Jesus does that like he leads and he's pushing against the power of empire at the time. 00:02:53.400 --> 00:03:00.080 And there's so much, like I said, historical depth and the story is so powerful that we're going to look at how this is working, 00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:15.440 where Jesus is speaking truth to power, truth to empire, he's speaking to injustice and his actions and his words are really pushing against what the empire is doing is they're oppressing the Jews. 00:03:15.440 --> 00:03:19.240 So like I said, lock in, we're going to jump into some history. 00:03:19.240 --> 00:03:22.240 I'm going to try and show you some of the depth to all of this. 00:03:22.240 --> 00:03:28.200 I don't have the time to get into all of it, but I'm going to go as much as I can. 00:03:28.200 --> 00:03:35.440 So first off this last week, it's called Passover Week and it was Passover Week, it's Passover Week for the Jews. 00:03:35.440 --> 00:03:44.080 And it isn't just something that they believe, it is like something they remember, it is their origin story. 00:03:44.080 --> 00:03:47.720 This week that Jesus is coming into Jerusalem, this is a big deal. 00:03:47.720 --> 00:03:58.120 This is the identity of the Jewish people, their collective memory of what it means to be human under God. 00:03:58.120 --> 00:04:14.280 It goes all the way back to Egypt to generations of slavery where their lives were controlled, their bodies were used, their future was dictated by an empire that saw them as less than. 00:04:14.280 --> 00:04:29.040 And in that story, God responds, not with some abstract idea, but with action, and most of us know these stories. If you don't know what I'm talking about yet, you're going to see it. 00:04:29.040 --> 00:04:42.280 So at this time, the Jews are oppressed, they are under Egyptian rule, and God sends Moses to confront Pharaoh. 00:04:42.280 --> 00:04:46.680 You guys know the song, right? Let my people go. 00:04:46.680 --> 00:04:53.720 Moses comes to Pharaoh and he says, "Hey, God has told me that it's time for you to let his people go." 00:04:53.720 --> 00:05:03.960 And Pharaoh is like, "Yeah, not going to happen. I'm the most powerful man in the world. What's your God going to do?" 00:05:03.960 --> 00:05:18.680 And you see through the book of Exodus that God says, "Okay, well, I'm going to start with some plagues and let Pharaoh know that I'm not joking around, but I mean business." 00:05:18.680 --> 00:05:22.400 And so Moses goes to Pharaoh and he says, "Here's what's going to happen," and he tells him the plagues. 00:05:22.400 --> 00:05:34.400 And these plagues begin, they intensify. There's the plague where the water and all of the land is turned into blood. 00:05:34.400 --> 00:05:40.800 And Moses goes and tells Pharaoh this is happening. This is what's going to happen, and it does. 00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:52.080 Water turns into blood. Frogs, just a bunch of frogs, just start jumping through the streets and the houses, and that would be weird. 00:05:52.080 --> 00:06:00.840 What just happened, frogs? You've seen this part. I think the plague still made its way to San Antonio. 00:06:00.840 --> 00:06:12.680 The next one is biting gnats. You get those summer, oh man, I remember in football, they would like, "Oh, anyway." 00:06:12.680 --> 00:06:22.640 So he's biting gnats, then there's flies, just like flies everywhere. Death of livestock, all the livestock starts to die. 00:06:22.640 --> 00:06:29.720 There's massive hail storms that also kills things and destroys things. 00:06:29.720 --> 00:06:40.160 Then locusts, you guys have probably heard about the locusts, like these loud, they're like crunchy, like, you know, and they're like, they shed, anyway. 00:06:40.160 --> 00:06:46.920 Locusts, and then there's three days of darkness, and then Moses goes to Pharaoh and says, "This is it. This is the last one. 00:06:46.920 --> 00:06:57.440 Here's what's going to happen. There's going to be a plague that's going to hit our land, and the firstborn son of everyone will die from Pharaoh's household." 00:06:57.440 --> 00:07:04.960 And Moses goes to the Jewish people, the Israelites, and he says, "Here's what God has told me. Here's what's going to happen. 00:07:04.960 --> 00:07:19.000 Here's how you will be spared from this. You are to take a lamb, sacrifice that lamb, take the blood of that lamb, and put it on the doorpost of your home. 00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:28.600 And then you will sit down with your family and you will eat the meal. This is how angel of death will know to not come to your home. 00:07:28.600 --> 00:07:41.200 So the Israelites do this, and when this plague happens, death is rolling through. It comes to a door with the lamb's blood over it, and it passes over that door. 00:07:41.200 --> 00:07:45.400 And the firstborn son is spared. 00:07:45.400 --> 00:07:51.600 Pharaoh doesn't do the Passover celebration because he doesn't know what's happening. His son dies. 00:07:51.600 --> 00:07:58.240 And Pharaoh finally goes, "That's it. Get out of here. I can't deal with your God anymore. You're free to go." 00:07:58.240 --> 00:08:01.360 And Moses says, "He let our people go. Let's go." 00:08:01.360 --> 00:08:09.760 And they take off, right, and they go out into the desert. We get the Red Sea, all the, you guys know the story, right? Some of us. 00:08:09.760 --> 00:08:23.440 So this is all happened. This is where Passover begins. It is the first time that the, it's this big time where the Israelites were set free from the Egyptian oppressors. 00:08:23.440 --> 00:08:31.040 They were saved. They were passed over by the, by death. 00:08:31.040 --> 00:08:50.240 So when this happens, they are told from that moment on, "Don't forget this. Don't fit the liberation and the freedom that you have experienced through this. Tell this story. Eat the meal. Remember who you are." 00:08:50.240 --> 00:09:01.320 So now, fast forward. Imagine being in Jerusalem during the Passover celebration. 00:09:01.320 --> 00:09:06.640 Hundreds of years later. This is a story that has been passed down through generation to generation. 00:09:06.640 --> 00:09:16.560 Hundreds of years later, the city is filled with people. Jerusalem, the Jews will descend on Jerusalem during this week. 00:09:16.560 --> 00:09:26.320 Historians say that the city that normally had about 50,000 people in it would surge to 200,000, 300,000, even a million people. 00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:35.280 So there are people everywhere here to celebrate Passover. The Jews have come to celebrate this event. 00:09:35.280 --> 00:09:42.880 The city's filled with people who have come to remember this story of liberation. 00:09:42.880 --> 00:09:52.000 Families gathering, there are songs that are being sung there. Children are asking questions probably like, "What are we doing, Mom? Why are we going all the way here?" 00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:59.600 "I don't want to come here, Mom." If you have kids, why? My legs are tired. 00:09:59.600 --> 00:10:08.240 Sorry. Just imagining me having to walk across the country with my kids. 00:10:08.240 --> 00:10:14.320 The whole place. Jerusalem is alive with memory and celebration. 00:10:14.320 --> 00:10:20.960 But layered into that memory is this tension that's kind of hard to ignore for the Jews at the time. 00:10:20.960 --> 00:10:25.920 Because they're celebrating freedom and liberation while living under Roman oppression now. 00:10:25.920 --> 00:10:28.400 The Romans have taken over and they are now under their oppression. 00:10:28.400 --> 00:10:38.160 So they're celebrating freedom and liberation while having no freedom and not being liberated and being oppressed. 00:10:38.160 --> 00:10:49.520 It's a different empire. Same reality. Soldiers in the streets. Power is kind of hovering in the background no matter what they do. 00:10:49.520 --> 00:10:56.800 The quiet understanding that they are not fully free is in their minds while celebrating freedom and liberation. 00:10:56.800 --> 00:11:13.360 Which means this Passover week isn't just nostalgic. It's kind of charged. There's this feeling that is going through the city. 00:11:13.360 --> 00:11:19.360 It's emotional. It stirs something that's kind of deep in the Jewish people. 00:11:19.360 --> 00:11:26.720 Because every year they tell this story, there's this unspoken question that kind of lies underneath it. 00:11:26.720 --> 00:11:38.880 Like, will God do that again? Will liberation come again? Will we be out from underneath the thumb of the Roman rule? 00:11:38.880 --> 00:11:48.160 And this is the moment, the week that Jesus steps into. This tension. 00:11:48.160 --> 00:11:54.560 It's not accidental. It's not quietly that He steps into this. He steps into a story about freedom. 00:11:54.560 --> 00:12:06.000 Into a city full of people remembering what God wants to do and He begins to reveal something much deeper to them as they are stirring in this tension. 00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:15.040 What unfolds in the next few days isn't just about remembering the liberation from Egypt. 00:12:15.040 --> 00:12:22.400 It's about reimagining what liberation actually means to them. 00:12:22.400 --> 00:12:41.680 What does this mean to the Jewish people? Not just freedom from an empire out there, but freedom from systems, the ways of seeing things and seeing people, the patterns of power that keep recreating empire all around us. 00:12:41.680 --> 00:12:51.520 And once you begin to kind of see and feel the tension of everything that Jesus is stepping into and what He does in the next few days, 00:12:51.520 --> 00:12:55.440 it starts to land a little differently. 00:12:55.440 --> 00:13:01.760 So it's a celebration. Are you guys tracking where we're at in the Passover? Are we good? All right. 00:13:01.760 --> 00:13:07.920 Passover week, they're celebrating liberation. There's this tense moment. 00:13:07.920 --> 00:13:17.840 It's actually a dangerous time for Jews because the Romans are fully aware of what this week means for the Jews. 00:13:17.840 --> 00:13:23.440 They are not naive to what is happening. They know what is being celebrated. 00:13:23.440 --> 00:13:29.360 They know the details of how many people are about to descend on the city. 00:13:29.360 --> 00:13:35.840 You're like fiesta in San Antonio. 00:13:35.840 --> 00:13:41.200 Like think about like really like thousands of people are coming downtown. What happens? 00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:47.600 Bigger police presence. Where we plan for this. What do we do to protect things? 00:13:47.600 --> 00:13:56.400 The Romans are doing the same thing. They're ready fiesta. 00:13:56.400 --> 00:14:05.920 And Rome had a strategy at the time. This is one of the ways that their empire kind of grew and lasted for so long. 00:14:05.920 --> 00:14:10.400 They called it Roman peace, the Pax Ramona. 00:14:10.400 --> 00:14:17.120 And it was this idea that there would be peace, but not peace like the way that we think about peace. 00:14:17.120 --> 00:14:21.680 It wasn't harmony and mutual flourishing for the people that were under their rule. 00:14:21.680 --> 00:14:29.120 It was control, order, stability. It was enforced by power. 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:37.440 Like Rome didn't need everyone to agree with them. They just wanted to make sure that everyone did not resist them. 00:14:37.440 --> 00:14:44.720 So their approach was kind of simple. They would allow people, so like the Jews, who they were over. 00:14:44.720 --> 00:14:49.440 They would allow them to keep their culture. They would allow them to keep their religion. 00:14:49.440 --> 00:14:55.840 You can keep your traditions as long as you don't disrupt our system. 00:14:55.840 --> 00:15:02.000 So they allowed this to happen while also still controlling things. 00:15:02.000 --> 00:15:06.000 Thank you. 00:15:07.600 --> 00:15:19.040 I didn't know if I was going to make it. So the Jews were allowed to celebrate Passover, and Rome doesn't shut it down. 00:15:19.040 --> 00:15:27.520 But they don't outlaw this celebration, but they know what's going to happen. They want to protect it. 00:15:27.520 --> 00:15:36.240 Rome's perspective is religion can actually be useful for the people that we are oppressive because it keeps them occupied. 00:15:36.240 --> 00:15:41.600 And it keeps people structured. It keeps people manageable. 00:15:41.600 --> 00:15:48.480 But the tension that happens is Passover isn't just a religious holiday. 00:15:48.480 --> 00:15:52.880 It's a story about God overthrowing empire. 00:15:52.880 --> 00:16:01.040 It's a story about liberation. It's a story about a ruler being humbled and slaves walking free. 00:16:01.040 --> 00:16:07.200 This is the moment that they're in. So Rome allows it, but they don't trust it. 00:16:07.200 --> 00:16:11.040 They're always a little worried that something's about to happen. 00:16:11.040 --> 00:16:16.720 Because a story like that can wake people up. 00:16:16.720 --> 00:16:20.880 Rome in that time, if you look historically, they'd seen it before. 00:16:20.880 --> 00:16:26.080 The movements can start small, a little spark, a little encouragement. 00:16:26.080 --> 00:16:34.640 And all it took was a crowd and a voice. And suddenly what looked like tradition turned into resistance. 00:16:34.640 --> 00:16:37.440 And they were trying to make sure that didn't happen. 00:16:37.440 --> 00:16:44.080 So they managed it. Passover could happen. Hundreds of thousands of Jews are going to come into the city. 00:16:44.080 --> 00:16:48.400 We will allow this, but we're going to monitor it. We're going to control it. 00:16:48.400 --> 00:16:52.400 We're going to control the environment around it. 00:16:52.400 --> 00:16:58.400 They're going to allow the celebration, but they surround it with power. 00:16:58.400 --> 00:17:05.360 Which brings us to the first demonstration of this week of Passover. 00:17:05.360 --> 00:17:09.120 And the first demonstration isn't a demonstration by Jesus. 00:17:09.120 --> 00:17:14.080 It's actually a demonstration by Pontius Pilate. 00:17:14.080 --> 00:17:17.200 Pontius Pilate, he's the Roman governor of Judea. 00:17:17.200 --> 00:17:24.240 He governs the area that Jerusalem is in. On a local leader, not one of the people. 00:17:24.240 --> 00:17:30.320 He represents Rome. He is there under the power and authority of Caesar. 00:17:30.320 --> 00:17:34.400 So he comes in, he would have lived on the coast line. 00:17:34.400 --> 00:17:40.960 He comes in with his procession into Jerusalem. 00:17:40.960 --> 00:17:46.880 Carrying the authority of Caesar himself, the ruler of the empire. 00:17:46.880 --> 00:17:57.360 His job is simple, it's to keep order, to collect taxes, and to crush anything that looks like resistance. 00:17:57.360 --> 00:18:05.680 And if you read the historical accounts, Pilate isn't known for being a gentle leader. 00:18:05.680 --> 00:18:14.960 A gentle ruler. He is known for being decisive, forceful, willing to use violence to maintain control. 00:18:14.960 --> 00:18:21.040 Because violence is how Rome keeps peace. 00:18:21.040 --> 00:18:27.760 There's a historical thing if you look at it. Anybody seen 300? 00:18:27.760 --> 00:18:32.200 Very historical. 00:18:32.200 --> 00:18:41.120 It is a historical moment where actually when that happened, when Rome kind of crushed that rebellion, 00:18:41.120 --> 00:18:48.080 they actually crucified 6,000 men and they lined them up on crosses. 00:18:48.080 --> 00:18:51.200 And that's how they said, try it again. 00:18:51.200 --> 00:18:56.640 Like this was after Jesus. But this is Rome. Rome did not play. 00:18:56.640 --> 00:19:02.560 You come against us, we have more power than you. 00:19:02.560 --> 00:19:09.280 So during Passover, Pilate doesn't stay away from Jerusalem. He comes to Jerusalem. 00:19:09.280 --> 00:19:14.080 And he doesn't slip into the city quietly. He enters from the west side of the city. 00:19:14.080 --> 00:19:23.680 So he's coming in from the coastline, he comes into the city. He's on horseback and he is surrounded by soldiers. 00:19:23.680 --> 00:19:38.080 There's armor, weapons that are visible. It is a big display of power to show that we are here. 00:19:38.080 --> 00:19:43.600 It's a procession. It's a display. It's a message from Rome. 00:19:43.600 --> 00:19:49.120 I think, does that picture show up on here? There he is. There's Pontius Pilate. 00:19:49.120 --> 00:19:52.560 Found this fancy picture. Can you guys see it? 00:19:52.560 --> 00:19:57.680 I'm not going to move the table this week. It's always a process. 00:19:57.680 --> 00:20:02.400 So you can imagine like, show of force, show of power. 00:20:02.400 --> 00:20:06.560 They're coming into the city to make sure that you know that we are here. 00:20:06.560 --> 00:20:10.320 You're allowed to have your parties but don't get too carried away. 00:20:13.440 --> 00:20:22.000 So we see this. Rome is here. Rome is watching. Don't get any ideas. We will crush you. 00:20:24.080 --> 00:20:29.440 Because when a city is filled with people remembering liberation, the oppressor 00:20:31.840 --> 00:20:34.800 wants to make sure that they also remember who's in charge. 00:20:37.360 --> 00:20:40.800 And right as that demonstration of power is entering from the West. 00:20:41.600 --> 00:20:46.320 Now, this happened every year at Passover. Historically, we know this. 00:20:46.320 --> 00:20:51.200 You can look it up. It's in like Josephus talks about it, a first century Jewish historian. 00:20:52.160 --> 00:20:57.840 This part of the story isn't as depicted in scripture. 00:20:57.840 --> 00:21:01.920 But if you look back historically through historical writings of the Jewish people, 00:21:02.880 --> 00:21:12.480 we know this happened every year. We don't know that there are some historians, 00:21:12.480 --> 00:21:18.480 some Jesus historians and some Jewish historians that believe that there's a good chance that while 00:21:18.480 --> 00:21:24.240 this was happening is when Jesus did his triumphal entry is what we call it. 00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:29.520 It's kind of a not a really good name. But Jesus is actually entering the city from the West. 00:21:30.080 --> 00:21:34.160 I mean from the East. So, Pilate's coming in from the West on his horseback. 00:21:34.160 --> 00:21:37.760 And even if they didn't come at the same time, the people of that time would have known what 00:21:37.760 --> 00:21:41.280 is happening when Jesus comes in. So, Jesus 00:21:44.480 --> 00:21:46.400 does the second demonstration of this week. 00:21:48.400 --> 00:21:53.440 Right as this demonstration of power is entering from the West. Something else is beginning to happen, 00:21:53.440 --> 00:22:02.000 the east side of the city. One that looks very different, but it says just as much as what Pilate 00:22:02.000 --> 00:22:09.840 is trying to say to the Jews. He's coming from the East and not the West. He's coming from the 00:22:09.840 --> 00:22:15.280 Mount of Olives where he's been praying and he comes down. And Jesus tells his disciples to go ahead 00:22:16.480 --> 00:22:24.240 and bring him a donkey. Not a war horse, not a symbol of conquest, a donkey. 00:22:25.760 --> 00:22:31.840 Luke 19 says, "As he approached Bethpage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, 00:22:31.840 --> 00:22:35.200 he sent two of his disciples saying to them, 'Go to the village ahead of you, 00:22:35.200 --> 00:22:40.480 and as you enter it, you will find a cult tied there which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and 00:22:40.480 --> 00:22:46.240 bring it here. If anyone asks you, why are you untying it? Say the Lord needs it. Those who were 00:22:46.240 --> 00:22:51.360 sent ahead went and found it just as they told them. And as they were untying the cult, the owners 00:22:51.360 --> 00:22:56.320 asked them, why are you untying the cult? They replied, the Lord needs it. They bought it or they 00:22:56.320 --> 00:23:02.320 brought it to Jesus through their cloaks on the cult and put Jesus on it." Now Luke says cult 00:23:04.640 --> 00:23:13.520 in this translation. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the synoptic gospels, they all cover this moment. 00:23:14.320 --> 00:23:25.120 I think it's Mark that actually says donkey and a cult. And the idea is when you look at Mark's 00:23:25.120 --> 00:23:32.320 translation of this or Mark's depiction of this story, historians believe that they probably grabbed 00:23:32.320 --> 00:23:38.000 a female donkey, brought it to Jesus, and there's a cult walking with the donkey 00:23:39.440 --> 00:23:45.360 to show like this is the mother, the cult follows the mother. And so Jesus came in on the lowest 00:23:45.360 --> 00:23:50.080 ranking member of the horse slash donkey family, right? 00:23:52.720 --> 00:24:00.080 They bring this to him and for us, this might feel just like humble, like Jesus is being humble. 00:24:01.760 --> 00:24:08.720 He's just riding a donkey in. But for the Jews at the time, this is loaded with meaning. 00:24:10.080 --> 00:24:15.680 Jesus is not just riding a donkey into town. Jesus is making a point. 00:24:18.240 --> 00:24:21.840 Because kings rode horses when they went to war. 00:24:25.280 --> 00:24:28.960 But they would ride donkeys when they were coming in peace. 00:24:31.840 --> 00:24:36.000 Jesus, he's not just choosing transportation here. He's making a statement. 00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:42.880 He gets on the donkey and he begins to move towards the city. And people start gathering, 00:24:43.840 --> 00:24:53.520 not soldiers, but just people begin to gather around him on the donkey. They begin laying down 00:24:53.520 --> 00:24:58.160 their cloaks in front of the donkey. They're cutting branches. They're shouting, "Hosanna, 00:24:58.800 --> 00:25:04.240 blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord." Luke 19 continues, says, "As he went along, 00:25:04.240 --> 00:25:09.040 people spread their cloaks on the road when he came near the place where the road goes down 00:25:09.040 --> 00:25:14.080 the Mount of Olives. The whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God and loud voices 00:25:14.080 --> 00:25:19.040 for all the miracles they had seen. Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord, 00:25:19.040 --> 00:25:29.680 peace in heaven and glory in the highest." Now, you step back and you look at both scenes side by side. 00:25:32.640 --> 00:25:43.760 You've got one demonstration on Pilate side where you have seen Roman soldiers, military leaders, 00:25:44.560 --> 00:25:49.200 the political leaders and the temple elites of the time would have gone to the gate to meet 00:25:49.200 --> 00:25:54.880 Pilate because they knew he was coming. These are religious leaders trying to maintain their 00:25:54.880 --> 00:26:02.960 favor with Rome. Those that are invested in keeping the system intact because they profit 00:26:02.960 --> 00:26:08.400 and they benefit from it. They would go to meet Pilate at the gate of the city on the west side. 00:26:10.240 --> 00:26:14.000 This is people with status, people with power, people with something to protect. 00:26:15.680 --> 00:26:22.480 But on Jesus' side, there's a very different crowd. You've got fishermen, farmers, day laborers, 00:26:22.480 --> 00:26:26.400 women who have been pushed to the margins, the poor, the sick, the ones who have been 00:26:26.400 --> 00:26:31.200 healed, the ones who are still hoping to be healed, tact collectors who had left their old life 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:38.800 behind, people who didn't quite fit anywhere else, probably even some children. Because you don't 00:26:38.800 --> 00:26:45.920 take your children to a war demonstration. Well, maybe some people do. You should not. 00:26:48.160 --> 00:26:54.640 But this one seems more peaceful, engaging, family-oriented, right? 00:26:56.400 --> 00:26:59.680 You've got people who felt unseen that are now showing up. 00:27:01.680 --> 00:27:06.800 People who had been told they didn't belong are now stepping into something they felt like they 00:27:06.800 --> 00:27:14.480 did belong. And when you see it that way, the contrast becomes almost impossible to ignore. 00:27:16.240 --> 00:27:21.840 One procession is filled with people protecting power. The other is filled with people who had 00:27:21.840 --> 00:27:28.800 been crushed by it. One is upheld by control. The other is held together by hope. 00:27:31.440 --> 00:27:39.840 And maybe this is the part that makes this moment kind of, if you look at it from a historical, 00:27:39.840 --> 00:27:48.560 contextual lens. It's so compelling because it's not just two leaders entering a city. 00:27:48.560 --> 00:27:52.800 It's two entirely different visions of humanity walking side by side. 00:27:55.120 --> 00:28:02.400 Pilot enters with power, force, fear, and Jesus enters with humility, presence, peace. 00:28:05.280 --> 00:28:11.600 Pilots' procession says this is how the world works. And Jesus' perception is you have a doesn't 00:28:11.600 --> 00:28:25.520 have to. It's not random. Jesus is literally parading, doing a parody of Pilate. This is a protest. 00:28:26.960 --> 00:28:32.480 It's a resistance, not through violence, but through contrast. Jesus is exposing something. 00:28:34.320 --> 00:28:38.480 Not by attacking her own directly, but by showing a completely different way of being human. 00:28:40.240 --> 00:28:42.720 Different kind of power, a different kind of kingdom. 00:28:45.760 --> 00:28:49.600 And we see in this scripture is that the people feel it. 00:28:52.160 --> 00:28:56.640 Because something in them recognizes the difference. They've seen power before, 00:28:56.640 --> 00:29:02.160 they've lived under it, they know what it feels like, but this feels different. It feels like 00:29:02.160 --> 00:29:08.480 there's some hope here. But you can also see the tension and the struggle in the Jews that thought 00:29:08.480 --> 00:29:15.360 that their king was going to come and liberate them from the oppressor Rome. And they see this 00:29:15.360 --> 00:29:20.720 that like this is not what we thought was going to happen. In fact, probably people that had 00:29:20.720 --> 00:29:25.760 attached themselves to Jesus with the expectation that, hey, when we overthrow Rome or we get out 00:29:25.760 --> 00:29:32.480 of here, maybe I'll get some power in this system, our little upset. 00:29:35.360 --> 00:29:41.440 For this moment, the city is holding both these visions of humanity at the same time. Two 00:29:41.440 --> 00:29:47.440 percessions, two kingdoms, two ways forward. And this question probably hangs in the air for 00:29:47.440 --> 00:29:57.440 everyone there. Like, which one do we follow? And the story from here gets even sharper and there's 00:29:57.440 --> 00:30:06.640 more tension that happens. We showed Jesus reacting. We see him reacting. We see him revealing 00:30:08.080 --> 00:30:12.640 what is happening in Rome or what is happening in Jerusalem and what Rome has done and why 00:30:12.640 --> 00:30:20.160 he is there to overthrow the power that is oppressing his people. 00:30:23.360 --> 00:30:29.200 I'm going to read this last verse. I'm going to save the rest of this for next week because 00:30:29.200 --> 00:30:34.880 there's a whole other demonstration that has too much depth to it for us to get into. 00:30:36.560 --> 00:30:41.600 But here's what happens. Jesus enters the city. He comes in on the donkey. He comes in with this 00:30:41.600 --> 00:30:47.680 procession where they're talking about peace and Hosanna and a complete protest and an idea 00:30:47.680 --> 00:30:53.760 that is completely different than what Pilate is doing. And this is where he comes in the city 00:30:53.760 --> 00:30:59.600 and the next thing we see Jesus do is he goes to the temple. And this is the moment we'll talk 00:30:59.600 --> 00:31:04.960 about this next week where Jesus goes to the temple and he starts flipping tables. Right? 00:31:04.960 --> 00:31:12.320 You guys, for this story, he walks in the temple and he starts flipping the tables. And for a lot 00:31:12.320 --> 00:31:18.720 of people, it's like, oh man, Jesus finally snapped. Like he lost it. I get it. You know, like, 00:31:27.840 --> 00:31:36.960 yeah, never mind. Yeah, that part gets crazy. Not even the part that Jesus does this. It's the 00:31:36.960 --> 00:31:43.680 interpretation of what some people think is happening. He comes into the temple and he's going 00:31:43.680 --> 00:31:51.920 to flip over the tables. But this isn't Jesus just losing his mind or just being righteously angry. 00:31:53.440 --> 00:32:00.400 Jesus is calculated. This is another protest. This is another demonstration. This is another 00:32:00.400 --> 00:32:05.360 moment of Jesus says, I know what's happening here and I'm going to uncover it for you. 00:32:05.840 --> 00:32:10.560 Here's how we know that this was not just Jesus walking into something and getting mad. 00:32:11.120 --> 00:32:16.640 Because at the end of the procession, he's come into the city. He goes straight to the temple 00:32:16.640 --> 00:32:23.520 and Mark in his gospel says this. Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. 00:32:24.160 --> 00:32:30.400 He looked around at everything. But since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the 12. 00:32:30.400 --> 00:32:35.280 He left the temple and out to Bethany's little town outside Jerusalem. He went to the temple 00:32:35.280 --> 00:32:39.840 Sunday night. We call this Palm Sunday, right? We'll just use our language here. Sunday night, 00:32:39.840 --> 00:32:45.600 he goes to the temple, gets into Jerusalem, goes to the temple. It's late. He looks around. 00:32:47.040 --> 00:32:50.880 And he tells his disciples, we'll come back later. And they leave. 00:32:53.280 --> 00:32:59.280 Why does he do this? Well, because he already missed the nightly news cycle, right? Like, 00:32:59.280 --> 00:33:05.200 this isn't going to make the news. Literally, like, it's a demonstration. Jesus is calculated 00:33:05.200 --> 00:33:14.080 and he is making a point. He's not there to just disrupt the tables. He's there to make a point. 00:33:15.120 --> 00:33:23.200 And to do that, he knows that the next day, this temple and the courts around the temple will be 00:33:23.200 --> 00:33:29.680 packed with thousands of people, which doesn't just mean there's a lot of people to see him. 00:33:30.880 --> 00:33:36.640 It means that thousands of people are at the temple to pay the temple tax and to pay 00:33:36.640 --> 00:33:43.120 the additional temple tax that the priest are requiring them to pay and are going to have to be 00:33:43.120 --> 00:33:49.840 there to buy animals to sacrifice. There is money that is going to be coming to the temple the next 00:33:49.840 --> 00:33:59.040 day. And Jesus says, we're going to make a point that this isn't what my father's house is supposed 00:33:59.040 --> 00:34:07.840 to be about. And it's not about just selling things. It is about the corruption and the oppression 00:34:07.840 --> 00:34:13.920 that the power structure is holding over the people that follow Jesus and to the city behind 00:34:13.920 --> 00:34:22.880 the donkey. Because Jesus was always fighting against power that oppressed, power that harmed 00:34:22.880 --> 00:34:31.520 hierarchy that separated us from as us and them. His demonstration coming in was to show there's a 00:34:31.520 --> 00:34:40.240 different way to be human. We aren't here for power and hierarchy. We're here for humility 00:34:40.240 --> 00:34:49.440 and peace and love. And he goes into the temple to make his next point, which is ultimately 00:34:51.280 --> 00:35:02.080 the point that the Jews, the Jewish religious elite and the Roman leadership takes as the last straw. 00:35:04.640 --> 00:35:10.560 That's what takes him to the cross, the attack on their money and their power. 00:35:11.440 --> 00:35:15.760 We'll talk about that next week. Sorry, this was so much just history lesson. 00:35:18.080 --> 00:35:24.160 I love you guys. Go read on this if you want to. Some of you are like, I'm not going to read about 00:35:24.160 --> 00:35:33.680 it. Like literally do some research, read about it. There's so much behind it that we just don't 00:35:33.680 --> 00:35:40.560 learn about that gives depth to what Jesus is doing and why he's doing it. So do that. Go love 00:35:40.560 --> 00:35:50.480 people well and we'll see you next week. Thanks.