The Walking Dead (Death, Defeated)

First, a round of applause for all of you — because the fact that you’re here means you successfully survived April Fool’s Day. Hopefully your mental sanity is still intact and you didn’t get caught in too many.

More importantly, today is Palm Sunday. Today is the launch of Holy Week. So it seems appropriate to begin by reading the Palm Sunday story.

Open your Bible to Luke 19. If you didn’t bring one, we’ll put all of the Scripture on the screen so you can read along. And if you don’t own a Bible, we’d encourage you to either download one to your phone or stop by our resource table and take one home.

Before we read, let’s ask God to be our teacher.

Heavenly Father, before we read these words that were written so long ago and have been shared with so many people, we ask that You would show us something again. Some of us grew up with this. We know this story inside and out, and sometimes it goes in one ear and out the other. I pray that today, as it comes in an ear, it would stick in the mind and sink down into the heart — that we would hear loudly what You have for us. God, there’s a reason You brought every single person here today. There’s a reason someone is logged in online right now. There’s a reason someone will listen to this on the podcast later. You have something for them. So prepare us to hear — not from me, but ultimately from You and Your Holy Spirit. In Jesus’s name we pray, amen.

And when he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.'” So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them. And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. As he was drawing near — already on the way down the Mount of Olives — the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” (Luke 19:28–40)

The Verse We Always Skip

If you grew up in church, you’ve heard this story on this particular Sunday. It’s usually nicknamed the triumphal entry — Jesus making His entrance into Jerusalem, kicking off the events of Holy Week.

Having been in full-time ministry as long as I have, I’ve taught through this passage and its parallels in Matthew, Mark, and John several times. Some years we’ve looked at the significance of the colt — what riding on that animal would have signified to the people about Jesus claiming to be king. Other years we’ve talked about the palm branches. Luke doesn’t draw them out; he only shows the cloaks. But Matthew, Mark, and John tell us the crowds were cutting palm branches, waving them, and laying them down for the donkey to walk over.

I’ve explained the significance of that — how it was actually something of a political statement, especially when you factor in that Matthew, Mark, and John record the crowds shouting Hosanna. Once you combine that cry of “save us” with the palm branches, you realize this was a deeply political moment. And I’ve explained how that political moment reveals the crowds didn’t fully understand what was taking place. They were making an enormous mistake.

But this year I’m not going to talk about any of those things.

This year we’re going to look at one verse. The very first one. Verse 28.

And when he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. (Luke 19:28)

Most of us, the first time we read this, see it as a connector verse. Jesus finishes a monologue, and now we’re moving into the triumphal entry. It’s just there to transition us into the story.

But it isn’t merely a transition. It’s not a verse to skim past on the way to the good stuff — the palm branches, the donkey, the cheering.

I believe this is a genuinely powerful verse. I think it can make an enormous impact. In fact, I’d go so far as to say it could be life-changing for some of you.

But for you to understand how life-changing it is, we have to skip ahead and look at the events of Good Friday.

This coming Friday we’re holding a Good Friday service, so even though we’re going to talk about those events today, this isn’t meant to replace what’s coming. If anything, I think today will prepare you for it. Our team has a great plan put together, and our elders and Sunday team have been praying over that service. If you’re free at all, come make it part of your week. I think you’ll be truly blessed by it.

The Suffering Started in a Garden

On that Good Friday, Jesus suffered. But so often we picture only the suffering on the cross. What we don’t realize is that the suffering began in a garden.

After celebrating the Passover meal — what many Christians call the Last Supper, because it was the final meal Jesus ate with His disciples before the crucifixion — they sang a song and headed out to the Mount of Olives, to the Garden of Gethsemane. Which, if you notice, is where the Palm Sunday story begins. He starts there, and in a sense He’s about to end there.

Jesus asks His disciples to pray with Him, then goes off a little way and begins to pray Himself. And Luke 22:44 tells us that as He prays, He begins to sweat blood.

That’s a medical condition called hematidrosis. It occurs when someone is under such extreme stress that the blood vessels near the surface of the skin rupture and blood seeps into the sweat glands, so that when the person sweats, it appears they’re sweating blood.

Which tells us the suffering of Jesus did not wait for everything else we’re about to walk through. It was already underway, in a garden, in prayer.

It also helps explain why Jesus prayed, “Father, if at all possible, take this cup from me.” Don’t let me drink the cup of wrath — the third cup of the Passover meal. Take this from me. Yet not my will, but Yours be done.

A Sham of a Trial

Within a couple of hours of sweating blood, temple soldiers arrive with Judas Iscariot, one of His own disciples, and take Jesus back into Jerusalem, where He’s brought before the Sanhedrin.

The Sanhedrin was the Jewish high court. Their trials were supposed to happen in broad daylight, in the day, to demonstrate fairness — to show they were genuinely seeking the truth. Instead they held this one at night, almost in secret. And the court already knew the verdict it wanted. They intended to pronounce Him guilty and deserving of death.

While the trial is going on, some of the temple soldiers begin to mock Jesus. They spit on Him. Many begin to slap Him — continuing the physical and emotional suffering that had already started in the garden.

After the Sanhedrin declares Jesus guilty and worthy of death, they hit a problem. They’re under Roman rule, so they cannot carry out the death penalty themselves. They have to hand Jesus over to Rome — which means they have to convince Rome He deserves to die.

So they call for Pilate, early in the morning. Pilate does not want to deal with these Jews, especially during their Passover feast. So he finds out where Jesus is from, realizes it’s Herod’s district, and ships Him off to the king of the Jews.

Herod is delighted. First, that Pilate would trust him with a decision at all. But especially that it involves this Jesus of Nazareth — the miracle worker, the magic man everybody has been talking about. Herod finally gets to meet Him. He’s hoping for a show. Multiply some food. Perform a healing.

Jesus does none of it. In fact, Jesus doesn’t even speak.

So Herod figures if He won’t do anything, send Him back to Pilate. Pilate is a little surprised that Herod would allow him to make the decision. The two of them used to be enemies; after that moment, they became something like friends.

Pilate interviews Jesus, listens to the Jewish leaders, and determines that Jesus has done nothing worthy of death. So he decides to release Him — though he still wants Him punished. A beating, at least, to demonstrate the might of Rome. Let these Israelites know who’s really in charge.

But the moment Pilate announces he’s letting Him go, the Jewish leaders rile up the crowd, and they start yelling: Crucify him! Crucify him!

The crowd works itself into a fervor. Pilate realizes he’s about to have a riot on his hands. So to calm things down, he walks to a basin of water, washes his hands, and says, “I’m done with this. I’ve made my verdict. I wash my hands of it. If He’s killed, His blood is on you.”

And he hands Him over to be flogged and crucified.

What Flogging Actually Was

The Roman soldiers were experts at flogging.

They would take a person into an area, strip the tunic off to expose the back, and tie the hands above the head to a post. Then they’d use leather thongs with metal beads or bone worked into the ends to add weight and inflict damage.

The first few strikes just sting. Then bruises form. Soon the skin begins to tear and blood appears. Then the skin is ripped away. Then you’re down to muscle.

If this were being done under Jewish law, they would have been limited to thirty-nine lashes. The Romans had no such rule. They flogged until they decided the victim had had enough — or until the soldier had had enough.

Eventually they stopped beating Christ. But they weren’t finished with Him. They started mocking Him. This is supposedly the king of the Jews. Let’s honor him. So they found a purple cloth — the color of royalty — and draped it around Him. But a king needs a crown, so they wove thorns into a circlet and jammed it onto His head. They put a rod in His hand for a scepter and began to “worship” this king.

That wasn’t enough. They grabbed the scepter out of His hand and beat Him with it — adding more welts, more bruises, more blood. And every time they struck the head, they drove those thorns deeper into the scalp.

Has anyone here ever had a head wound? You know how much those bleed. How much they hurt. And they did it over and over.

At some point I assume a centurion had to step in and say, “All right, gentlemen. That’s enough.”

Which meant they had to take that purple robe off. And His back was shredded so badly that the blood would have soaked into the cloth. So pulling it off would have ripped the wounds open all over again.

The Walk to Golgotha

And then they expected Him to carry the patibulum — the crossbeam of a cross. A Roman patibulum typically weighed somewhere between 75 and 120 pounds.

I’m a wimp. I don’t know that I could carry that with all my blood still in me. Put me through what Jesus had just endured and I am definitely not carrying it.

So it’s no wonder Scripture tells us Jesus was unable to carry it, and they grabbed a man named Simon from Cyrene and made him carry it the rest of the way. They worked their way out of Jerusalem and up a hill to an area known as Golgotha — the place of the skull.

When they arrived, Simon would have dropped the patibulum to the ground. They’d set it on top of the stipes, the vertical beam. Then Jesus would be laid on top of it, that raw back pressed against the wood, each arm stretched out. Nails were driven through each wrist. Then the legs were crossed and one nail driven through the feet. And then they lifted the whole thing and dropped the stipes into a hole in the ground, where Jesus hung.

And believe it or not, the worst was still ahead.

Because when your arms are stretched out and you’re hanging like that, you eventually reach a point where you can’t breathe. You can’t take a full breath in, and you can’t fully push it out. So you’re struggling for air. And what you want to do is push yourself up — except that means pressing down on the nail through your feet, which sends intense pain shooting up your legs and causes you to immediately drop back down, which forces the nails in your wrists to take the weight again.

This went on for three hours. I suspect those three hours felt like three millennia.

At the end of them, Scripture records that Jesus cried out, “It is finished.” Then He looked toward heaven and said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” And He breathed His last.

He Knew All of It Was Coming

Here’s the astonishing part.

Jesus knew every bit of that was going to happen.

He was not caught off guard by the arrest in the garden. He wasn’t shocked to be mocked at the trial. He wasn’t stunned or overwhelmed when they announced the flogging. He didn’t say, “What are you doing?” when they brought out the nails.

He knew.

A couple of years ago we studied the book of Mark here at Riverwood, and we saw that Jesus told His disciples three separate times exactly what was going to happen to Him. He was not surprised by any of it.

Which is what turns Luke 19:28 from a verse we skim into a verse with real weight.

And when he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

He went on ahead. That phrase means Jesus was out in front of His disciples.

Jesus Was Never in a Hurry

We usually picture Jesus walking along with His twelve disciples, and that was probably true some of the time. But we’ve come to realize there were more people around than that — a kind of entourage following Him. And typically it seems Jesus would be in the middle of the crowd, fielding questions, teaching more, using all that travel time.

In fact, when you read the Gospels, Jesus comes across as remarkably unrushed. It’s usually the disciples saying, “Jesus, come on, we need to keep moving,” or “Let someone else deal with that.”

Think of John 4, when Jesus is at a well talking with a Samaritan woman. Samaritans were hated by the Jews. His Jewish disciples go into town to buy food, and you get the sense they’d very much like to get out of there. Many Jews traveling between the northern and southern parts of Israel would go around Samaria entirely. But Jesus goes through — John 4 says He had to go through, because He knew He needed this conversation with this woman. When the disciples come back and find Him talking with her, they’re shocked and uneasy and clearly want to leave. And Jesus essentially says, “No, we’re staying.” Scripture records they stayed two days.

Or when Jesus is on His way to heal a little girl. A synagogue leader named Jairus says, “My daughter is sick — can you come?” So they set off, a crowd pressing in, everyone excited to watch a healing. And suddenly Jesus stops everything: “Who touched me?”

The disciples look at Him like He’s lost it. What do you mean, who touched you? There’s a crowd all around you. “No — healing power just went out from me. Someone touched me.”

It was a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. The doctors couldn’t figure it out. Somehow she had become convinced that if she could just touch the fringe of His robe, she’d be healed. And here He is on His way to heal someone else, and He stops everything to give this woman His full time and attention.

Or consider that the feeding of the five thousand begins with Jesus in mourning. His cousin John the Baptist has just been beheaded. Jesus wants to get away with His disciples to pray and grieve. But as they pull up to the shore, a crowd is already waiting. And Scripture says Jesus saw them like sheep without a shepherd — so He takes the time to minister to them, to teach them, to heal them. As evening comes, the disciples say, “We don’t have any food, we should send them away.” And He says, “No, we’ll take care of it.” Which leads to the miracle.

Jesus was never in a hurry. Wherever He was, He was fully present. He always seemed to be right there with the people.

Except in Luke 19:28.

Suddenly He’s out ahead of the disciples, face set toward Jerusalem — knowing He was going to be arrested, mocked, beaten, flogged, and crucified.

Of His Own Accord

There’s a Latin phrase used in the legal world: sua sponte. I’m neither a legal expert nor a Latin expert, so take this illustration with a grain of salt — but as I understand it, it means the court is acting of its own volition, for its own purposes. If a court has made a request of the parties bringing a case and they fail to fulfill it, the court can dismiss the case sua sponte. Voluntarily. Of its own accord.

Jesus walks into Jerusalem to be crucified sua sponte.

He is not being forced by the Father. This is not — despite what some skeptics claim — divine child abuse. Nor is He walking in about to be shocked: whoa, the Romans are more powerful than I expected, I didn’t think this would happen.

He goes voluntarily. Willingly.

For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father. (John 10:17–18)

Jesus knew full well what was about to happen. And He went anyway.

The Joy Set Before Him

I don’t know about you, but the question that surfaces in my mind is: how?

How could someone intentionally walk into that? Knowing they’re not just going to be beaten but flogged. Knowing a crown of thorns will be driven onto their head. Knowing they’ll be mocked and ridiculed, hung essentially naked in front of the world, nails through the wrists, unable to breathe, that shredded back rubbing against the wood — and then they’ll die.

How?

I think Hebrews 12:2 answers it:

Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Notice it does not say “for the joy found in the cross.” There was no joy on that Good Friday. There was no joy in the nails. Jesus wasn’t laughing as they flogged Him. He didn’t have a grin as they slapped Him. He didn’t find it funny when He started sweating blood. There was no joy in that moment.

It says “for the joy set before him.” Meaning there was something waiting on the other side. Something so worth it that He could walk out ahead into Jerusalem toward the fate that awaited Him.

What could possibly have been worth that?

You were.

You were the joy set before Him.

Jesus was there with the Father and the Spirit when they created the earth, and then created humans, and put their image into mankind — so that humans would be like God, and act like God, and be in relationship with God. But when Adam and Eve sinned, the penalty was death. So Jesus, of His own volition, came to earth, took on human flesh, and ultimately walked into Jerusalem to die in the sinner’s place.

You were the joy. He wanted you back in relationship with God that badly. He did not like that sin had stained your soul, torn you apart, damaged the image of God within you. He wanted you back — and there was nothing He wouldn’t do to make it happen.

So what allowed Jesus to walk ahead of His disciples into Jerusalem?

His love for you.

Hold Nothing Back

And because Jesus held nothing back to bring you to Him, I want to invite you to hold nothing back and come to Him.

If you’re here today and you’re not a follower of Jesus — maybe you’ve heard parts of this story before, but you’re now realizing He loved you so much that He willingly walked into Jerusalem to die for your sin. The penalty of sin is death, but He didn’t want you to pay it, because if you paid it, you’d be eternally separated from God. So He came and paid it for you, so that you could enter a relationship with Him and live eternally with God.

What that requires is casting all of your faith, all of your trust, all of your identity into this story of His death and resurrection.

In John 3, Jesus is having a conversation with a Jewish leader who has all sorts of questions, trying to work things out. And in the middle of it, Jesus says this — and I intentionally didn’t put it on the screen, because I want you to just hear it:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Did you catch it? God did not hate the world because of its sin. God loved the world. And by “world,” He doesn’t just mean the globe — He means the people on it. He loves you enough that He was willing to give His Son. Jesus willingly came for you.

Then: whoever. Which means the Christian faith isn’t only for Christians. It isn’t only for people born into Christian homes. It isn’t only for those who grew up in middle-class America. It isn’t only for people whose family tradition this is. It is for whoever — no matter what faith you were born into, no matter what you’ve been struggling with, no matter what sin has beset you, no matter what you’re doubting and wrestling with right now.

And it’s whoever believes. That means putting all of your trust, all of your faith, all of your identity into it. Holding nothing back.

And whoever believes finds eternal life — which isn’t just heaven someday. It begins now. You get to have a relationship with God here.

Then Jesus continues: 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 hear it? God didn’t send His Son to condemn the world, because the world was already condemned. We were already in our sin. We didn’t need condemnation. We needed rescue.

That’s why Jesus came.

If you’ve never put your faith into this story, into Jesus, I invite you to let today become your spiritual birthday. We started Riverwood Church for you. We didn’t start this church to pull Christians from other churches. We didn’t start it because we thought others weren’t doing it well enough. We started it because we believed there were people just like you who needed to hear this message — and that one of the ways to bring it to people here in Iowa is to have a church full of people who know this story, are willing to live this story, and will share this story.

So we’re sharing it with you.

If you’re ready to put your faith in Jesus, most people mark the moment in prayer. There’s nothing magic about the prayer — they simply realize this is what they need to do. If that’s you, pray with me now.

Heavenly Father, You can see hearts. You can see minds. You can see the person right now who is doubting. You can see the person who thinks this is ridiculous. And You can see the person who is convicted, who is hearing from You, because this is coming from You to them.

Father, I pray they would put their faith fully in You right now. That they’d be willing to confess their sin. That they would hold nothing back. And as they give it all to You, realizing that Your sacrifice on the cross was complete — it was enough, it was finished — their sin can be forgiven, forever removed, and they can come into relationship with You. So hear their prayer as they give this to You.

And Heavenly Father, for the person who still doubts, for the person who thinks this is mythology, for the person who doesn’t want to give it all up for You — I pray You would keep working. Keep hounding them. Keep pursuing them. Keep going on ahead, not just into Jerusalem, but into their life. Because I know You love them, and I want to see them find life and freedom in You. May they not wait for stones to cry out in praise of God. May they get to be part of the throng that declares the good things You’ve done — and the greatest thing You did, Jesus, was to go to a cross for us and rise out of a tomb.

So help us seek You, worship You, follow You. Help us with our doubts. Help us with our sins. Help us with our addictions. Help us give it all to You, because You held nothing back to receive us. In Jesus’s name I pray, amen.

For Those Who Already Know the Story

I realize many of you who are part of Riverwood just heard me invite people who don’t know Christ to put their faith in Him, and you’re thinking, I already know this story. What do I do?

The same thing.

At Riverwood we talk about inviting the spiritually disconnected to find and follow Jesus. When we hear that phrase, we usually picture other people — folks who didn’t grow up in church, or who wandered away, or got caught up in the party scene.

But if we’re honest with ourselves, we all have moments and seasons where we feel spiritually disconnected. Where God seems distant. Where our prayers seem to stop at the ceiling. Where we’re still stuck in that addiction. Where we’re just caught on the treadmill of life.

So I want to invite you to do exactly what I invited those who’ve never put their faith in Jesus to do: hold nothing back.

As we go to the communion table, those elements are a reminder that Jesus held nothing back. He did it all for you. So ask yourself: what is the Holy Spirit asking me to give Him?

Is it an addiction? Is it the way you’ve been handling your money? The way you’re using your time? The way you’ve been treating someone — or avoiding someone?

What is it the Holy Spirit is asking you to hand over? Because He wants all of you, and giving it will actually set you free.

As you come to these elements, remember that the wafer represents the body of Christ broken for us, and the juice represents His blood shed for the forgiveness of our sins. And as you take them in, you’re saying: Jesus, I want to give all of me to you.

One request. If, even after all of this, you’re saying, “I still don’t believe any of it,” I’m going to ask you to very respectfully not take the elements. Not because we’re trying to keep something from you — but because what we believe is genuinely best for you is to put your faith in Jesus. I’d much rather you stay where you are and wrestle honestly with God than put on a front and take these elements when they’re meaningless to you.

But if you are a follower of Jesus and you’ve put your faith in Him — even if there’s still something in your life you’re fighting — come. This might be exactly what God uses today to help you find your way out of it.

So even if this is your first time ever with us, if you know the story of Jesus and you’ve placed your faith and identity in it, come and worship the one who held nothing back and invites you to give it all to Him.

Let us do this now in remembrance of Him.