Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday Devotion

Matthew 21:1-11, “As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.” 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: 5 “Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey,   and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ 6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!” 10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?” 11 The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

The reason the Gospel of Matthew is often my go-to gospel of the four is because of how often Matthew makes note of the many different prophecies that were fulfilled. The other authors do that some, but not nearly as often as Matthew does. His gospel shows Christians and potential converts that God is reliable and trustworthy. He is faithful to his word. There is a book on my shelf that I consulted while writing this sermon. It is one that was recommended to me by one of the many preachers in my extended family. It is called the Book of Books. One of the most notable parts of this book is a chapter that breaks down the Law of Compound Probabilities as it applies to Messianic prophecies. I want to share just a few of these statistics.

There were over 300 prophecies in the Bible about Jesus. Here is the probability statistic for Jesus only fulfilling these eight prophecies that are on the screen. The probability odds were at 1x10¹⁷. That would be the same as filling up the entire state of Texas with 50-cent pieces stacked two feet high, and a blindfolded person stumbles through it all to find the one 50-cent piece that was especially marked. Those are the odds for Jesus fulfilling eight prophecies. My brain can’t even quantify what the Law of Compound Probabilities would say about Jesus fulfilling all 300+. There are a couple more statistics in the book, but they are so long and scientific that I passed on reading them aloud. Let’s just say God and the Scriptures are pretty reliable. How should that affect our faith?

The same Bible that contains the hundreds of prophecies that Jesus fulfilled also tells us that one day He is coming back. Now, I don’t know about you, but after hearing that statistic, there ain’t no doubt in my mind that Jesus will return one day. We are going to want to be on the right side of this. Many of us look at committing to a relationship with Jesus as stepping out in faith with a risk of being wrong. While it is a showing of our faith, the step is not as big as the world tries to make it seem. Mathematics, Statistics, Science, History, and Archeology all support Scripture and the existence of God. That is something the media and culture today don’t want you to know. Palm Sunday is all about Jesus’s triumphal entry. The promised Messiah has come, and he is going to come again. It is not a matter of if He comes, but when He comes back, what side are we going to be on? Maybe this will light a fire of urgency inside of us to spiritually and physically prepare for when we meet Jesus. There is often an illusion of time when we procrastinate or put things off to the future, but time is never a sure thing. Let us ready ourselves spiritually for the future and help others prepare as well.