Today is Palm Sunday, the day when we remember Jesus riding into Jerusalem to the cheers of the crowds. The people were waving Palm branches and shouting “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” Let’s watch a video entitled “Our King” about Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Yet, how quickly the crowd would turn on Jesus. By Friday of the same week, they were shouting, crucify him.
I’ve entitled today’s message “Power of the Cross.” Jesus’ great triumph would come not on Palm Sunday, but on the cross. It was all part of God’s grand plan.
Acts 2:23 (ESV) this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
This verse is taken from Peter’s message on the day of Pentecost. He makes it clear that Jesus’ death on the cross was not an accident or surprise to God the Father or to Jesus. The cross was part of God’s plan to save man from before the creation of the world.
Why was it necessary for Jesus to be crucified? Thousands of people had been crucified before Jesus and many afterwards. What was special about Jesus? The Bible teaches us that every person is a sinner and so is separated from a relationship with God. That separation from God means that each person is doomed to an eternity apart from God in hell. There is no way for any of us to pay the penalty for our sin, as we are all guilty.
God’s plan was to send His only Son, Jesus from heaven to earth in human form. Jesus lived a perfect life, he never sinned. Jesus chose to die on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin. As the only sinless human being to ever live, he was the only qualified to pay the price. God accepted Jesus’ sacrifice as paying the penalty for sin by raising him from the dead.
Acts 2:24 (ESV) God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
Jesus came back to life, never to die again and so is alive today ruling and reigning. Next Sunday, we will celebrate the resurrection on Easter.
Today, we want to acknowledge that Jesus made it possible for us to be saved by dying on the cross. We want to study the importance of the cross, both for our own lives and for those that we know. The cross is the hope of the world, it holds the answers to every problem. As we experience the power of the cross in our lives, we must tell others, so they can have eternal hope as well. The cross shows …