Palm Sunday and the Gospel?
Palm Sunday is when Jesus rode into town on a donkey and they put down palm branches declaring, “Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” It was a declaration of His Kingship. They had no idea that in just a few days he would be wiped, beaten, scourged, and hung on a cross to die for the sins of them, you, and me. But on the third day He would arise from the dead to conquer death, hell, and the grave.
Jesus’ finished work reconciles us back to God. This is the Gospel. How did this all come about?
Look at what the prophet Isaiah says in Isaiah 53:6, “The Lord has laid on him, Jesus, the iniquity of us all.” How does God the Father feel about this? Isaiah 53:10 tells us, “it was the will of the Lord to crush Jesus. It was the Father’s choice to put Jesus to grief for us.”
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How could God the Father be so cruel to His only begotten son? John tells us why in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Do you know what the Gospel is? It is God’s plan to save you.
See how much intentionality, effort, pain, sacrifice, and love God the Father has gone to in order to bring you back to Himself?
He gave His most precious gift for you to be reconciled, saved, and brought back to Him.
He spared no relational expense to love you. And He loved you and I when we didn’t love Him. Paul tells us in Romans 5:8, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners (enemies), Christ died for us.”
Jesus died for you. While you were his enemy, he was your friend.
You ever suffered for someone who hated you?
You ever bled in your heart for someone who rejected you?
Jesus did this for everyone. That’s not just difficult for you and me to do for everyone, it is impossible. He did the impossible for everyone. Thank you Jesus!
Do you know what the Gospel is? It is what Jesus did for us while we were His enemies, He was our friend.
How did he do this? 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
Jesus who knew no sin became sin. What does that mean? Here is what it doesn’t mean. He didn’t do sin. He didn’t commit sin. He didn’t become a sinner. He was never guilty of any sin. Then what did he do?
“God made him to be sin for us” means that Jesus, although sinless, was treated as if He were not. Although He remained holy, He was regarded as guilty of all the sin in the world. Through imputation of our sin to Him, He became our substitute and the recipient of God’s judgment against sin.
The Gospel is simply this, Jesus took our sinful place and bore our judgment for us.
This is good news.
Why is this good news? Romans 10:9 tells us, “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
You don’t have to pay back God for the damage your sin has caused Him. What you have to do is simply believe He did, and He will in His time “make all things new, including you.”
That’s a pretty good deal.
Have you ever confessed and believed in what Jesus did for you?
Have you ever done that?
Why not do that today?
Why not confess Jesus as God today and believe in what He has done for you?
When you do, look at what Jesus does for you. Isaiah 53:12 says, “Jesus bore our sins and makes intercession for our transgressions.”
Jesus doesn’t just save us. He then fights for us through prayer after we are His. He doesn’t take his eyes off us. He doesn’t fail us or forsake us. We are his focus. He doesn’t just save us. He prays for us. Romans 8:34 says, “Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died — more than that, who was raised — who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”
Jesus is interceding for you, present tense. Jesus is talking to the Father about you right now!
All of us will have times in our lives when we feel like God has forgotten us, abandoned us, or left us out to dry. We will think of walking away, giving up, or at least shrinking back. Don’t! He is praying for you right now. He is interceding for you, right now. He loves you and He has not forgotten you. Jesus is remembering you to the Father right now. Let Him know what you want Him to tell the Father. He is your advocate, and He is interceding for you and your needs right now, that’s the Gospel.
And that’s Good News!
Kelly Williams is co-founder and senior pastor of Vanguard Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado. His books include: The Mystery of 23, Friend of Sinners and Real Marriage. He also maintains a blog.
