Welcome back.
We've been exploring
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this marvelous
parable in Matthew Chapter 20.
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It deals with the
issue of salvation.
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You know, Ranko, as
we were talking about,
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I was thinking about my parents
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who spent their entire
lives in mission service.
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My dad spent four
years in prison camp.
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They served from the
beginning of their lives.
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They were the
early morning laborers.
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And then, you compare
the thief on the cross.
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Last moment-- He's messed up.
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His life is a mess. He
gives his heart to Jesus.
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And yet, the same God gives
the gift of salvation to both.
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Actually, last year, I
also buried my own father.
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He knew Christ
for exactly 60 years.
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When he became a Christian,
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his life was changed completely.
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He embraced the Gospel message.
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The only talk that he
knew it was about Jesus Christ
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what He did for me and he died.
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But I meet very nice people
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and may be they
are some of those
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among our viewers who may be,
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are already the advanced age.
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They heard about
the Gospel message
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and they wonder if
God can forgive them,
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if God can accept them.
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I would like to tell you that
the Gospel of Matthew is a--
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has a very encouraging
message to all of us.
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Even if you are 50, 60 and 80,
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God is calling you come to Him.
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That's no matter how long
you have known Jesus Christ.
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Of course, it will be
good if you know Jesus Christ
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20, 30, 40, 50 years ago.
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But if this now an opportunity
is take that opportunity,
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accept Jesus Christ
as your personal savior.
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Salvation and His acceptance
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is not based about your worst
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on the years of the service.
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It is on your
complete dedication to Him
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and to His service.
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So if we come early in
the day or at 5 o' clock,
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we still receive this
gift that comes from God.
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Now after the parable
Jesus presses towards Jerusalem.
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It says in verse 17, He
took the disciples aside.
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Now in the past,
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He had spoken about
His death in a general way.
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He gets more specific now.
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He tells very,
very clearly verse 18
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"Behold, we are
going up to Jerusalem,
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and the Son of Man
will be delivered up
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to the Chief
Priests and to the Scribes.
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They will condemn him
to death and deliver him
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to the Gentiles to be mocked,
and scourged, and crucified
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and he will rise
on the third day."
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It's very clear.
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It said that the Gentiles
will mock and scourge him.
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Jesus actually told
them everything in detail
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what--what will happen to him.
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There was no any, any doubt.
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But the next story tells
us they didn't quite get it.
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But they didn't get it.
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Not only that,
we know when we read
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the end of the
Gospels, how much they were
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disappointed when
Jesus was crucified.
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They did not get anything.
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And actually this is a
great way for me personally.
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And to all of
us, ask so many times
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we can be obsessed
with some of our ideas,
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what we have been
believed for years,
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what we have known for years.
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When the message of
the Bible comes to us,
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when Jesus Christ knocks
on the door of our hearts,
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we don't get it.
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Because it's very,
very much important
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to surrender ourselves to God
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and ask God to emptiness
of anything that prevent us
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to accept Him as
our personal savior.
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But, Ranko, the story of the
mother of the sons of Zebedee,
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James and John coming,
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and kind of
manipulating in the background,
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she's got a family connection.
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She can work it and
you know in the East,
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you don't say no to mother.
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So she calms and she
wants to give the special place.
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They really don't understand
where Jesus is heading.
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Yeah, actually Jesus
is making very clear.
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We are going to Jerusalem.
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The Gentiles will kill Me there.
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They will scourge
Me. They will kill Me.
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Actually, He
really provides in details
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what will happen
to Him in Jerusalem.
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But the
disciples did not get it.
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He's talking about cross.
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They are remembering
what He said about thrones
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and they wanna make sure
they get the right thone.
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How does He respond to them?
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So just few chapters earlier,
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they came to Jesus asking Him.
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When He establishes His kingdom,
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they would like to
be the prime ministers
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one on the right,
another one on the left.
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Evidently, they
were unsuccessful.
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What are they now doing?
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They're sending their
own mother to persuade
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Jesus to give them
permanent place in His kingdom.
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Well, now the other disciples
are upset probably in part
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because they
didn't think of this idea,
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this strategy, you know?
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And Jesus speaks about
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a purpose of this
mission in verse 28,
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Ranko, it's so
important. Let's read that.
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Actually from 26
would be nice. All right.
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It shall not be so among you
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but whoever would be great among
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you must be your servant
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and whoever would
be first among you,
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must be your slave
even as the son of man
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came not be served but to serve
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and to give His life
as a ransom for many.
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What a beautiful
statement. Powerful, powerful.
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What Jesus made the statement
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at His kingdom is
not about the prestige,
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is not about getting
power to rule over the people.
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If you really want to have
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a permanent
place in the kingdom,
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it means you want to be servant,
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to serve to the needs of people,
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to bring the salvation,
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to bring Jesus
Christ in the lives.
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Actually, if you want to
be the follower of Jesus,
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you have to follow in
the footsteps of the master,
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because Jesus came
not with the power,
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He came to be the servant
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and to save
people from their sins
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as we read at the
beginning of the chapter
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and Jesus
repeats it in verse 28.
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And His mission to be a ransom
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for many is what
takes us in Chapter 21
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to the entry into Jerusalem.
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May I read some of that,
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and when they
drew near to Jerusalem,
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and came to Bethany,
to the Mount of Olives,
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then Jesus sent His disciples,
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two off them saying to them
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go into the
village opposite you,
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and immediately you will find
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a donkey tied in a
colt with her, untie them,
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and bring them to me.
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If anyone says
anything to you, you shall say,
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The Lord has needed them,
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and he will send
them immediately.
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This took place to fulfill
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what was spoken
by the prophet saying
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tell the daughter of Zion,
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'Behold, your
king is coming humble,
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and mounted on a
donkey, on a colt,
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the foal of a donkey.
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The disciples went,
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and did as Jesus
had directed them.
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They brought the donkey,
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and the colt, and put
their garments on them,
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and He sat there
on most of the crowds,
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spread their
garments on the road
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and others cut
branches from the trees
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and spread them on
the road and the crowds
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that went before Him
and followed Him shouted
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"Hosanna!" to the son of David.
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'Blessed is He who
comes in the name of the Lord.
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Hosanna in the highest.'
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And when He entered Jerusalem,
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all of the city was
stirred saying who is this?
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And the crowd said,
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"This is the Prophet
Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee.
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Now, Ranko, one
question I have is,
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He is going to Jerusalem.
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He knows the cross is ahead Him,
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but He asks about
these animals, why?
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Number one is again, again,
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we have the same
truth in Gospel of Matthew.
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It's verse 4.
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This took place in order
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that the
prophecy can be fulfilled.
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Now in many of
the pagan nations,
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a king would come
riding on a warhorse,
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very much a
warrior and so forth.
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Have you ever seen
any picture of Rome--
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Roman general or any prominent
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ancient ruler
riding on a donkey?
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No, I think, no.
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A donkey is the beast of burden.
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It's the common
laborer's animal.
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Yeah. It's the
animal of poor people.
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Yes, living there
in the mountain areas
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and you can use the donkey.
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But it's not
reserved for the ruler.
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So Jesus is still arriving.
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He is as a king entering
city, city of Jerusalem.
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But according to the prophecy,
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He came--actually
this is the elaboration
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what we arrived.
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Jesus came not to be
served, but to serve,
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He is coming as a servant.
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in order to
fulfill that prophecy.
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And He's wanting to change
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their understanding
of what the messiah was,
00:08:29.94\00:08:31.94
because other
sections of the prophets,
00:08:31.97\00:08:33.88
the prophecy of Zachariah
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described a
conquering king and so forth,
00:08:35.74\00:08:38.15
but this section
it is chosen here,
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it speaks to that servant role.
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Let's put it in this way.
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The prophecy was telling us
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the messiah would come into
His own city, city Jerusalem.
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He would sit on
the throne of David.
00:08:51.86\00:08:54.93
So according to
the Gospel of Matthew,
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when people saw
Jesus entering Jerusalem,
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they recognized the
fulfillment of the prophecy.
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The Messiah is coming
into-- He is entering His city.
00:09:03.84\00:09:10.58
However, so they had the
fulfillment of the prophecy.
00:09:10.61\00:09:15.02
However, the lesson
that Jesus told them,
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He did not come to
establish the earthly kingdom.
00:09:17.32\00:09:20.09
He did not come like, like
a powerful ruler on the horse.
00:09:20.12\00:09:24.43
His mission was not in
His power and authority.
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His mission was in servanthood.
00:09:27.73\00:09:30.10
He came to save
people from their sins.
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So its freedom
from sin rather than
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freedom from Rome
that is His primary focus.
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They recognized
this is a great event.
00:09:37.64\00:09:40.58
Hosanna to the son of David,
00:09:40.61\00:09:42.24
blessed is he who comes
in the name of the Lord.
00:09:42.28\00:09:44.41
Hosanna to the highest.
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What attributes they are giving.
00:09:45.91\00:09:47.85
Now they still
don't quite understand
00:09:47.88\00:09:49.28
because all they say
is that He is a Prophet.
00:09:49.32\00:09:50.89
Actually you could expect
00:09:50.92\00:09:52.25
that Jesus
would-- would be real.
00:09:52.29\00:09:54.16
You see finally
they recognize Him
00:09:54.19\00:09:56.12
as the promised king.
00:09:56.16\00:09:57.56
However, when we go to
other Synoptic Gospels,
00:09:57.59\00:09:59.73
I think its Luke or Mark.
00:09:59.76\00:10:01.06
I forget it. They said,
00:10:01.10\00:10:02.96
"At that shouting
when Jesus saw the city,
00:10:03.00\00:10:05.90
He started weeping."
00:10:05.93\00:10:08.90
Because He knew that people
00:10:08.94\00:10:11.27
were shouting to
Him for wrong reason.
00:10:11.31\00:10:13.44
They were shouting Hosanna.
00:10:13.48\00:10:15.04
Just few days later,
they are shouting crucify Him
00:10:15.08\00:10:18.21
and crucify because their hopes
00:10:18.25\00:10:20.38
were not fulfilled
into that earthly kingdom.
00:10:20.42\00:10:22.38
That's right. Let's remember
00:10:22.42\00:10:23.85
that this is the
first of the Passion Week
00:10:23.89\00:10:25.92
and very soon
the crowd will change
00:10:25.95\00:10:28.29
how fickle the crowd is.
00:10:28.32\00:10:29.82
But, you know, you said,
00:10:29.86\00:10:31.23
we might expect
Jesus to be happy
00:10:31.26\00:10:32.99
and certainly if you
think about the disciples,
00:10:33.03\00:10:34.93
they must have enjoyed this.
00:10:34.93\00:10:36.50
Probably, Judas the most.
00:10:36.53\00:10:38.50
Now at last, we've come.
00:10:38.53\00:10:40.00
Everything looks good,
00:10:40.04\00:10:41.37
but then He does
this strange thing
00:10:41.40\00:10:43.04
of going into the temple
and cleansing the temple.
00:10:43.07\00:10:46.88
Ranko, you would've
thought the disciples would say,
00:10:46.91\00:10:49.51
okay, now look,
you've come to Jerusalem.
00:10:49.54\00:10:51.61
The crowds are accepting you.
00:10:51.65\00:10:53.08
Work with the
Pharisees a little bit.
00:10:53.11\00:10:55.52
You know, compromise a
bit with Sadducees Jesus.
00:10:55.55\00:10:58.32
This is the time for
you to set up your kingdom.
00:10:58.35\00:11:00.76
Actually, we go and see
00:11:00.79\00:11:04.86
the picture of
Ancient temple in Jerusalem
00:11:04.89\00:11:07.56
is we know that the
temple had several courts.
00:11:07.60\00:11:12.93
The first court was known
as the court of the Gentiles.
00:11:12.97\00:11:18.01
Into that section of the temple,
00:11:18.04\00:11:21.28
all Gentiles could come.
00:11:21.31\00:11:22.68
That's all
where they could come.
00:11:22.71\00:11:24.05
The next one was
the court of the Jews--
00:11:24.08\00:11:27.62
the court of women
were women could come,
00:11:27.65\00:11:29.95
the next one the
court of Jews, Israelites
00:11:29.98\00:11:33.72
and then after the
court of the priest.
00:11:33.76\00:11:36.26
The Gentiles could come
only into the first section.
00:11:36.29\00:11:40.30
At the door of the next section,
00:11:40.33\00:11:41.86
there was an
inscription that any Gentile
00:11:41.90\00:11:44.43
who would go through this door,
00:11:44.47\00:11:46.00
will be
responsible for his own death.
00:11:46.03\00:11:49.60
That temple that God established
00:11:49.64\00:11:51.17
to be the house of
prayer to all nations.
00:11:51.21\00:11:55.44
Actually, the greedy Sadducees,
00:11:55.48\00:11:57.45
they made it to the place
00:11:57.48\00:11:59.18
to steal money,
money from people.
00:11:59.21\00:12:02.85
When Jesus came,
00:12:02.88\00:12:04.22
He came to save His
people from their sins.
00:12:04.25\00:12:06.19
He wanted to save all
people and what He could see
00:12:06.22\00:12:09.92
there were greedy Sadducees.
00:12:09.96\00:12:12.96
There was
nothing for the Gentiles
00:12:12.99\00:12:15.03
that they could learn
about the God of Israel,
00:12:15.06\00:12:17.67
about those
promises of salvation
00:12:17.70\00:12:19.67
that is
actually offered to them.
00:12:19.70\00:12:22.14
This was the only new
occasion that made Jesus angry
00:12:22.17\00:12:25.04
and provoked the
action that He did.
00:12:25.07\00:12:26.91
We don't have time to explore it
00:12:26.94\00:12:28.28
but the bearing fig tree acted
00:12:28.31\00:12:30.05
out parable is exactly
00:12:30.08\00:12:31.75
what the temple would become.
00:12:31.78\00:12:33.82
Jesus comes to
cleanse the temple.
00:12:33.85\00:12:35.48
Ranko, it's the second time.
00:12:35.52\00:12:36.85
What does that tell us about
00:12:36.89\00:12:38.22
our lives just for a
little devotional thought,
00:12:38.25\00:12:40.46
Jesus comes to
cleanse the temple.
00:12:40.49\00:12:42.42
Yes, Jesus wants
to cleanse us as well.
00:12:42.46\00:12:45.56
He does not look
always at our mistakes,
00:12:45.59\00:12:48.46
our shortcomings
because He is Savior,
00:12:48.50\00:12:50.67
He wants to save us.
00:12:50.70\00:12:52.50