Hosanna!

Summary:

The sermon provides a detailed exploration of Palm Sunday through the Gospel of Mark, focusing on Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and its profound symbolism. The speaker discusses the concept of the “Messianic Secret,” as identified by theologian William Wrede, where Jesus instructs others to keep his identity hidden until the appropriate time. The sermon then transitions to the expectations of the Jewish people during Passover, their desire for a liberator from Roman rule, and how Jesus presented a contrasting vision of a spiritual kingdom rather than a political one. The significance of Jesus riding on a donkey, as prophesied in Genesis 49 and Zechariah 9, is highlighted as a Messianic Declaration, breaking away from the previous secrecy. Finally, the sermon touches on Jesus cleansing the temple and his proclamation of the kingdom of God, which signifies a shift from the physical temple to a new covenant and the call for Christians to live and share the message of hope.

Key Points:

1. The “Messianic Secret” highlights Jesus’ instructions to keep his identity hidden until after his resurrection, suggesting his disciples had a limited understanding of his true identity.
2. Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on a donkey was a public declaration of his Messiahship, fulfilling prophecies from the Old Testament.
3. The sermon discusses the political and military expectations of the Messiah by first-century Jews and contrasts them with Jesus’ spiritual mission.
4. Jesus’ actions in the temple symbolized the initiation of a new era, moving from the physical temple to a new covenant with God.
5. The sermon calls Christians to embrace the full revelation of Jesus and not mold him into their own image, emphasizing his death on the cross for humanity’s sins.

Scripture References:

• Mark 11: Describes Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, his cleansing of the temple, and his teachings.
• Genesis 49: Prophecy referring to the coming of a king from the tribe of Judah associated with a donkey.
• Zechariah 9: Prophecy about the king coming to Jerusalem riding on a donkey, proclaiming peace to the nations.
• Psalm 118: Used by the crowd to hail Jesus as he enters Jerusalem, recognizing him as the Messiah.

Sermon Notes:

HOLY WEEK: Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week for Christians. Mark devotes almost 40% of his Gospel to the events of this significant week!

MESSIANIC SECRET: Mark’s Gospel contains accounts where Jesus instructs various ones to not reveal His identity — for example: Mark 1:34, 44; 5:43; 7:36; 8:30; 9:9.

MESSIANIC DECLARATION: The Royal Entry on Palm Sunday was a direct declaration from Jesus that He indeed is the Messiah! (Genesis 49:10-11; Zechariah 9:9; Psalm 118:25-26)

THE KINGDOM OF GOD: The mission of Jesus is spiritual in nature — not political or military.

THE AGE TO COME: Jesus engaged in word and deed during Holy Week to proclaim the inauguration of The Age to Come!

Transcript

As people said, amen, amen. Thank you, worship team for leading us and our children, and worship ministry and Chi Alpha choir. Thank you all for leading us today. Well, today is Palm Sunday and we are going to look at Mark’s account of this particular day in the life of Jesus, and so I invite you to, if you have your copy of the New Testament, to open it along with me to Mark’s gospel, and we’re going to look at a passage from Mark 11. And I’ve been telling the message today Hosanna, it is the word of the day and it is the message that the Jews proclaimed that day many years ago when Jesus made his way into Jerusalem. So if you look with me at this text, mark 11., we get in verse one it’s our custom in our church to stand and honor the Lord. Jesus from the gospel is red. So if you’re able, I’ll invite you to stand as we hear this reading from the gospel.

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Beth Fage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, jesus sent two of his disciples saying to them go to the village ahead of you and just as you enter it, you’ll find a cult tied there which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you why you’re doing this, say the Lord needs it and we’ll send it back here shortly. They went and found a cult outside in the street tied at a doorway. As they untied it, some people standing there asked what are you doing untying that cult? They answered as Jesus had told them to and the people let them go. When they brought the cult to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road while other spread branches. They had cut into the fields and those who went ahead and those who followed shouted Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the coming kingdom of our Father, david, hosanna in the highest heaven. Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the 12. Thank you, you may be seated so obviously.

Today we begin this special week on our calendar Holy Week, and Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week for Christians, and Mark devotes almost 40% of his gospel to the events of this significant week. So think about that. Mark’s gospel is the shortest gospel that we have among the four gospels we think it was the first gospel written and Mark one through 10, mark compresses three and a half years of the ministry of Jesus into those 10 pages. And then Mark 11 through 16, he shares with us the events of the final week in the life of Jesus. And so we begin this journey today as Christians. We’ll join hands with Christians across the world and we will mark this excuse me, this very special week in the life of the church and certainly in the life of Jesus. And you know that our journey this Easter season has been built around the Psalms of ascent and we have been reading through them. We’ve also been reading Mark’s gospel along the way as a narrative material for us, and so we shift our focus this week where we actually turn our full attention to Mark’s account of the final week in the life of Jesus. So if you’ve gotten a copy of our devotional guide, which is together in ascent it’s available online. If you didn’t get one, you’ll notice that this week we have a daily Bible reading for you and just a devotional time for you to have with the Lord as we retrace the steps of Jesus during the final week in his life. We will gather again here in this room on Friday evening for a Good Friday worship service at 630. I would highly encourage you to come. It is a powerful time of remembrance and of reflection, as we will reflect upon what Jesus has done for us on Good Friday and really will prepare us to celebrate Easter Sunday Now.

With that said, when you read Mark’s gospel, he has somewhat of an interesting take, if you will, and there are several messages in Mark’s gospel that have caused scholars some consternation. In fact, one New Testament theologian his name is William Reed, w-r-e-d-e. He coined a phrase to capture one of the challenging pieces of Mark’s gospel. He calls it the messianic secret. And in Mark’s gospel, what you’ll notice is, as you’re reading through it, mark’s gospel contains accounts where Jesus will instruct various ones to not reveal his identity, and I’ve just given you a listing of some examples of those in Mark 1, verse 34, verse 44, chapter five, chapter seven, chapter eight, chapter nine, you just hear this message from Jesus that challenges the people who are there, or even demons, to not reveal his identity. So, for example, in Mark 1, verse 34, jesus is casting out demons and the Bible says that he did not allow the demons to speak because they knew who he was.

Then in Mark 1, verse 44, jesus has just cleansed the leper and he tells the leper don’t tell anyone about this except the priest. In Mark 5, verse 43, jesus raises Jairus’ daughter from the dead and he tells the people in that room who witnessed it don’t tell anyone about this. And then in chapter six of Mark’s gospel, verse 36, he has just healed a man who was deaf and mute and he tells the man don’t tell anyone what’s happened. In chapter eight, verse 30, jesus asks the disciples do you know who I am? And Peter, speaking on behalf of the disciples, says well, you’re the Messiah. And Jesus says don’t tell anyone. In chapter nine, jesus is transfigured before the disciples on the mountain and he tells them in chapter nine, verse nine don’t tell anyone about me until after the resurrection.

So what is it with all these don’t tells in Mark’s gospel? Why did Jesus say over and over don’t tell anyone? Well, reed calls it the messianic secret and his take on it is a little different than what I would believe, but nevertheless I would say the consensus among conservative evangelical theologians, where I would count myself among that number. It would be our contention that the reason Jesus is going to say this along the way is because these disciples and others at each point in the journey had a very limited understanding of who Jesus was, and so all they would have known to tell is the little bit that they knew. And evidently Jesus did not want to be primarily known as just a fill in the blank Faith healer, miracle worker, leper, cleanser I mean, just fill in the blank, the various things that he did. He did not want to just be known as that. Evidently they did not have enough knowledge yet, full understanding of who Jesus was to really tell anybody who he was. Okay.

So now we come to today’s passage and everything changes. You come to Mark 11 and we have what I would call the Messianic Declaration. The royal entry of on Palm Sunday was a direct declaration from Jesus that he indeed is the Messiah. And you’ll notice Jesus is going to use some passages of scripture from what you and I call the Old Testament to declare his Messiahship. So passages like Genesis 49, zechariah 9, psalm 118. So here’s what’s going to happen. Jesus has been engaged in this ministry now for three and a half years and he has told numerous people over and over don’t tell anyone who I am.

And now we come to this final week in the life of Jesus, and he and his friends have come to the edge of Jerusalem. So they’re in Beth Vage, bethany, these two little towns that are located by the Mount of Olives, just outside the city. And Jesus tells his friends, he says I want you to go into the village and you’re going to find a colt, a young donkey tied up. When you find it, I want you to untie it. And they will ask you what are you doing? Why are you getting this young colt? And you say the Lord has need of it. We will return it soon and they’ll let you have it. And so the disciples.

Now, in those days y’all donkeys ran free. It was very uncommon for them to be tied up. So they find one that’s tied up, sure enough. They untie it. The people say what are you doing? The Lord has need of it. They say okay, they take the young colt. They then take the colt to Jesus. They take their cloaks and place it on the colt. Jesus then mouths this donkey and begins a journey down the Mount of Olives. It’s very unusual, because pilgrims walked into the city of Jerusalem and instead of walking into the city of Jerusalem, jesus rides on a donkey. Now, as Jesus does this, what’s happening is he is bringing together these various threads of messianic expectation together in this one event, and as he does it, instead of it now being a secret, he is publicly declaring that he’s the Messiah. Because here’s what’s happened After Malachi is completed, you have 400 years of silence from the Lord for the Jews until the birth of Christ.

During that 400 years, the Jewish theologians, the rabbis, the teachers of the law, the scribes, they poured over the Scripture and they looked for hints. They looked for messages from God about the Messiah, the promised one, the one who is to come, because the prophets spoke about him. And they began to develop an understanding, a theology of expectation, of who the Messiah was going to be, what he was going to do, how he was going to make himself known, what he was going to accomplish. And there was a great deal of messianic fervor in the theological life of the Jews and in the religious climate of Judaism more broadly. And so Jesus understood all of that. And Jesus also knew the Old Testament what you and I call the Old Testament very well. So here’s what he does. He will now bring these threads together on Palm Sunday.

So, for example, one of the passages that the Jewish theologians had circled is the passage from Genesis 49. And they said, as we further reflected on this text, based upon also teachings in the prophets, this is a messianic passage. So, genesis 49, here’s what’s happening. Jacob is blessing his children in Egypt and it’s his time to bless Judah, okay, his son.

So in Genesis 49, verse eight, jacob says this to his son Judah, your brothers will praise you. Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies, your father’s sons will bow down to you. You were a lion’s cub, judah. He returned from the prey, my son, like a lion. He crouches and lies down like a lioness who dares derousing. And then verse 10, the scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he, to whom it belongs, shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his. He will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choicest branch. He will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.

So the Jewish theologians had isolated that passage and said there’s a messianic message here for us A son of Judah, a lion of Judah, somehow connected to this imagery of a donkey and blood and wine and grapes, all that is woven into this. To this understanding. And in Zechariah 9, you read this Rejoice greatly, daughter Zion, shout, daughter Jerusalem, see your king comes to you righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey, and he will proclaim peace to the nations. So Jesus is now moving past the secrecy, if you will, of Mark’s gospel, and now he’s going to make a public declaration that he’s the Messiah. And so he instructs his friends to get this donkey. He then mounts the donkey and they begin their journey into Jerusalem.

Now, as Jesus is riding into Jerusalem, you have messianic expectation all around him. You’ve got people who are looking for the coming of the Messiah, and many of them have heard about Jesus and they see him riding on this donkey and many of them call all of this to mind. They know that the son of Judah is going to be the Messiah. They know that he is going to come through the line of David and he’s going to ride in on a donkey. And people begin to recognize this and they begin to shout. And as they were shouting, they’re quoting scripture. They’re using Psalm 118, which was also a passage of scripture that the Jews saw as messianic. And so when you hear the voices of the crowd, they begin shouting Psalm 118, verses 25 and 26. Lord, save us, hosanna, lord, grant us success. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, save us, the one who’s in the line of David. And so these Jews, they see this and there’s a level of excitement that builds in the city because the one who has come, this Messiah that’s actually a title when you see that phrase from Psalm 118, the one who is to come, the coming one, was a title of the Messiah, so he’s the son of David, he’s from the lion of Judah, he’s riding on a donkey, he has come here to save us. And the Jews in this moment see their King, the son of David. I don’t know how to describe to you the excitement that they must have felt, because think about what’s happening it’s Passover.

Now, the way that the Passover worked was if you were a Jewish male and you lived within 20 miles of Jerusalem, you were required to be in Jerusalem for the Passover. And then there were Jews who lived all over the ancient world. They were called the diaspora. They were scattered throughout the ancient world. You were challenged as a Jewish man, at least one time in your lifetime, to be in Jerusalem for the Passover. So Jesus chooses this week, this Sunday, to enter Jerusalem. And look who’s in Jerusalem this week. You’ve got all the Jews who live in Jerusalem. This is their home and they’re accustomed to hosting people for a festival like this. Then you’ve got the Jews who live in all the surrounding areas. They’re all in Jerusalem. And then you’ve got Jews who were scattered across the ancient world. Many of them have come to Jerusalem. So you have a gathering that’s difficult to replicate at any other time or any other place on earth.

And Jesus chooses that moment to make his entry into Jerusalem. And there are people there who’ve heard about Jesus, they recognize Jesus, some of them know. As a matter of fact, the teachers of the law in John 12 will say after the royal entry you know what they say in John 12? The whole world is following him Because they’ve seen all these people. And here’s what many of them are thinking it’s on. There he is. He’s raised the dead. He’s healed the sick. He’s cleansed the lepers. He’s made the blind see. He’s made the deaf hear. He’s cast out demons. There he is, it’s on. So they have this idea of what’s about to happen. There’s great anticipation. So here’s what Jesus does. He gives them now a glimpse of the kingdom of God, but it’s going to be a steep learning curve Because the mission of Jesus is spiritual in nature, not political or military. And you see, these people, these first century Jews, they’ve got an expectation for the Messiah. They’ve been listening to their rabbis. They also been consulting the scripture and they are looking for this victorious warrior to make his entry in Jerusalem. They’re tired of the Romans.

By the time you get to the first century, when Jesus was alive, and y’all know I think most of you know what the Romans had done in Jerusalem. Maybe you do or maybe you don’t, but here’s what the Romans have done. You know King Herod, who was alive when Jesus was born. He refurbished the temple, the second temple, and in fact it was still in process while Jesus was alive. But adjacent to the temple, right next door to the temple, he built this massive fort King Herod did, and he named it for Mark Antony and it was known as the Fortress Antonia. It was a giant structure. It’s the first thing you would see when you began to look up to the hill in Jerusalem. It towered over the temple.

And so there’s this pagan Roman fort adjacent to the temple of God, constructed by Herod, dedicated to a Roman leader, a pagan, and we’re not really sure architecturally there’s been a whole lot of research done but there were towers that were constructed by King Herod as a part of the fortress. Some say there were four towers, some three, some two, some one. Here’s what we know. We know for sure there was one. We think there were four. There were 14 stories tall each tower. So think about the Wade building. The Wade building’s five stories. So basically three Wade buildings. Are y’all with me? At the top of the tower you had the Roman centuries. They’re in their full garb, with spears, with their helmets, and just imagine they are so much taller than the temple.

These Roman soldiers. Every day you had to have at least 600 Roman soldiers in the fortress Antonia, 24 hours a day, on duty. They are looking down into the temple courtyards, watching the Jews, monitoring the Jews’ behavior. So, in other words, if you’re a Jew and you’re in the holiest place on earth, you’re in the temple. If you look up, you see pagan soldiers watching you, observing your behavior, making sure you’re not out of line.

On top of that, the high priest at this time was Anas. The high priest was elected by the Sanhedrin, but he had to be approved by the Roman authorities in Jerusalem and then he had to surrender his vestments. So the high priest was required to wear these holy vestments during these high and holy seasons. He had to wear the vestments at Passover, he wore them at Pentecost, he wore them on the day of atonement. However, he had to surrender those vestments to the Roman authorities and they were stored in the fortress Antonia. So when it came time for there to be a festival in Jerusalem, the high priest of the Jews had to go to the Roman authorities and get permission to get his vestments so he could lead the Jews in worship.

Are y’all still with me? The Jews were tired of this. They were sick to death of the Romans overlooking their worship, monitoring their behavior and even holding on to the holy things of the high priest. So you got all these Jews in Jerusalem. Here comes their king and they’re looking at one another, going. It’s on. Y’all look at them. What are they gonna do to him? Here we go. Let’s all go to the fortress. You know that’s where he’s going. He’s about to go, stand in front of Pontius Pilate and say, dude, you are out, I am in, and everything changes. That’s what they’re thinking. Well, guess what Jesus does? Jesus comes in on a donkey. King, zechariah 999, genesis 49 to the cries of Hosanna, psalm 118. All these messianic threads woven together.

Jesus then begins to walk on foot, makes his way across Jerusalem, and he doesn’t go to the fortress of Antonio. Instead, he goes to the very heart of Jewish worship, he goes to the very heart of Jewish identity. And he goes to the temple and does nothing. He just looks around and leaves. How anticlimactic these folks are waiting for something.

Because you see the Jews, the core of their worldview, emerges from the temple and the Torah, and Jesus is going to encounter both of them this week, and so Jesus is going to show these Jews what kind of Messiah he is. Their expectations are political and military, and Jesus is going to be a spiritual Messiah, and he refused to be molded by their expectations. He refused to allow them to make him in their own image, because that’s what was happening among a number of Jewish theologians and Jewish people in general in the first century. They were crafting the Messiah after their own image and Jesus said no. Now let me say something to you that did not work in the first century and it will not work in the 21st century. Because, you see, I live in a society, I live in a culture, I live in a Christian generation. When there are Christians all around me who are trying to mold Jesus into their own image of who they want Jesus to be, and they’re minimizing his message, they’re reducing his ministry, they’re not honoring his messianic mission. Because there are people among us today, within the Christian family, who want to name Jesus the Jesus of their cause, the Jesus of their perspective, the Jesus of their worldview, the Jesus of their theology. And so they’re crafting Jesus according to their image and forcing him into a mold so that he will endorse whatever it is that they think he would believe right now if he were alive today on this earth. And what I’m telling you is it didn’t work then and it will not work now. You cannot. You cannot craft Jesus according to your own image. You know why? Because he’s the full revelation of God. He is the Son of man and the Son of God.

You know people like to ask this question what would Jesus do? You know? Wwjd. I’m fine with that, as long as you ask the first question Before you ask what would Jesus do? You gotta ask this question what did Jesus do? Because that will govern what would Jesus do. You have to embrace what Jesus did and you start with him. Let me tell you what he did.

You know, jesus was born in a cave and he was nestled in a feeding trough, y’all. He wasn’t born in Rome, he wasn’t born in Jerusalem, he was born in Bethlehem. And his birth was announced to a group of shepherds in Bethlehem and a group of Gentiles who had to travel a couple of years to make their way to greet him. And then he wasn’t reared in Rome, he wasn’t reared in Jerusalem, he was reared in Nazareth, this backwater village in northern Israel. And you know what? He was reared in a town where people used to ask the question. You remember what they used to say in his day can anything good come from Nazareth? Right? That’s kinda like could Yale beat Auburn in a basketball game. No, we all know I got more sense than that man. It feels better just to get that out y’all. So thank y’all. But Nazareth of all places, that’s where the Messiah is gonna be reared.

And then what does he do? He spends three years in public ministry confronting the prevailing notions of religion and society. He ate with sinners and tax gatherers, but he didn’t leave them in their sin and their brokenness. You know people today who are crafting Jesus according to their own image. They like to say that well, you know Jesus ate with sinners? Yeah, he did, but he didn’t leave them in their sin, he didn’t affirm their brokenness, he didn’t endorse their lifestyle. Jesus challenged them, he called them, he converted them, he rescued them, he redeemed them, he restored them and he refused to be reduced to a caricature of the savior of the world because he’s the lion of Judah. But in my world, what is it about us? It’s amazing to me what’s happening in my world.

For some reason, we want Jesus to be comfortable with our sin and confront you about yours. It’s almost like we want to teach him. We’re like Mary at Cana. When Jesus saw at this wedding, they were out of wine and Mary went to Jesus and said you know, you need to do something about this. That’s my culture. We want him to be comfortable with our sin and confront you with yours. So we say to Jesus you know, you need to do something about that, right there, you know. Now you and I are good, right, you know.

Let me just tell you something when you start teaching Jesus, when you start teaching Jesus, you’re on shaky ground. I would say this you start teaching Jesus. You’re no different than this crowd that cried out crown him on Sunday and cried out crucify him on Friday. You and I, we cannot craft Jesus according to our own image and shape him and mold him into who we want him to be. That’s not how it works, because he’s the king of kings. He died on a cross this very week in Jerusalem, just on a hill just outside Jerusalem. You know why. He died for our sins. He died for our willful disobedience, our love that’s out of order, our low mindedness and our desire to shape God’s will into our own in every arena and somehow claim him to be the architect of our shameful behavior. No, that’s not how it works, y’all. I’m just telling you right now Jesus is the savior of the world and he is the Messiah that he chose to be, and you either embrace him as that or not. Those are the only two options. But let me tell you what he did. Are y’all still with me? Let me tell you what he did this week. This is what we’re gonna celebrate Easter.

Jesus arrives in Jerusalem. Everything is going to change because this present evil age is coming to an end. The power of the brokenness of this world is coming to an end. A new power is being introduced this week. A new power is the age to come. And when I read the account of the life of Jesus in his final week, jesus engaged in word and deed during Holy Week to proclaim the end of the world and Holy Week to proclaim the inauguration of the age to come.

Jesus arrives in Jerusalem and he does some very interesting things. He’s prone to that. You know. He just is that. Monday morning they get up to go back in Jerusalem and they come across a fig tree and Jesus curses it Remember that story. And the disciples look at one another and go whoa, what does that mean? Then he goes back to the temple and he gets to the temple y’all, and Annus, who’s a high priest, has crafted an entire economy that’s built upon the temple. And remember, there are people there coming in from all over the world.

And when you came to Jerusalem as a Jewish man, you had to pay a temple tax to support the temple, but if you were from outside of Israel, you couldn’t use your currency. You had to pay with the Hebrew currency, and so there were currency changing stations in the temple, so you’d have to bring your currency and have it exchanged. Well, annus, the high priest, controlled all that charge as best. We could tell exorbitant rates to exchange that money. You would bring an animal for a sacrifice, maybe on your way to Jerusalem. You know, we’ve been reading the Psalms of Ascent. These people have been singing and reading and preparing themselves to be in Jerusalem, and they brought an animal to sacrifice. Well, annus’ folks were in charge of that sacrificial system and they would reject your animals and you had to purchase one of his and all that’s taking place in the temple, and not only that.

Y’all people had gotten so flimsy in their respect of the temple. According to what this text teaches us, the temple was this huge structure, and if you wanted to get across the city of Jerusalem it could be a shortcut for you. And there were Jews who were on their way to work, taking their things to the market, to whatever they were gonna sight, sell or whatever, and they were cutting through the temple as if it was just a mere shortcut. And Jesus walks into the temple and he sees all of that and he says no, no, this ends you, quit cutting through the temple. It says no more merchandise being taken through the courts of the temple. You don’t just cut through the temple, it’s not a shortcut to give you more convenience on your way to work. You don’t treat fellow Jews this way, in charge of an exorbitant prices. You don’t rule out the Gentiles who are not able to even get in here to worship.

This is supposed to be a house of prayer. Jesus didn’t so much cleanse the temple On that day, he rendered it obsolete. And he told his disciples later this week you know, one day none of these stones will be here. And they look at him like you’ve got to be kidding me. And he says I’m gonna raise the temple in three days because everything changes.

This present evil age has come to an end. A new age has started. A new power is now here and it’s in me. I’m the Messiah and I’m the king of kings. I’m the lion of Judah, I’m a shoot off of Jesse, I’m David’s son and I’m the son of God, the Passover meal. Jesus says I’m gonna change it Instead of looking backwards and continuing to just celebrate what’s behind you. We will do that, but we’re gonna lean into the future and one day I’m gonna celebrate this with you anew in the kingdom of God. And so the power of evil, the power of sin, the power of death, all will be broken this week In this story, and sin will be defeated and death will have met its match in Jesus’. Praise his name. The age to come, the kingdom of God, is now on earth, and so for me and you, as Christians, that’s our message, that’s our hope. Let you and I be faithful to live it and to share it, excuse me and to share it. May it be so. Let’s pray together. Father, today we come before you.