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SERMON NOTES
“Passion For Passion”
Palm Sunday, April 5, 2020
SCRIPTURE: John 12:12-13 (NIV)
“The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet Him.”
PRAYER
Father – thank you for your word and for your presence with us today. Bless our time together as only you can do. May we know the sweet fellowship of the Lord, of the Holy Spirit and of each other in these next few moments – Amen.
INTRODUCTION
Albert Einstein was a very intelligent man. He is reported to have once said this: “There are only two things that are infinite, hydrogen and human stupidity – and he wasn’t sure about the hydrogen.”
CONTENT
I think Mr. Einstein may have been referring to common sense when he mentions “human stupidity”. There are times in life when there appears to be no common sense. For example: Closing rest areas to those who are working to deliver to us the necessities of life.
Common sense by definition is: “The decision making ability to imagine the consequences of the decision being made.” As Jesus approached Jerusalem there was a large crowd pronouncingHim to be their long awaited King. After what Jesus had taught and done, especially in raising Lazarus from a four day grave just hours earlier, wouldn’t it make sense to hail Him as King?
Yet there were those that did not join the pursuit. As a matter of fact they took offense, to the point of asking Jesus to silence the crowd for making such a scene. Why? Why did they not accept the true Messiah?
Common sense is often destroyed by the desire for instant gratification. Could it be that the “Me Virus” pre-empted the spiritual leaders of the day from the common sense of what was happening?
I’ll take a bit further by drawing our attention to the fact that within a matter of 4 days – “All had forsook Him and fled”. Pronouncement and pursuit does not always mean commitment . Why? Because our perspective will soon tell on us.
So who is this Jesus? The answer to that very question will condemn us or save us.
QUESTIONS TO PONDER
1. Do you see a place for common sense in the scope of spirituality? If so, how so? Are there any dangers in relying solely upon common sense?
2. What do you think is meant by the phrase: “Me Virus”? How dangerous is this “virus”?
3. The spiritual leaders may not have had the “sense-to-see” God. What prohibitives might have played a roll in this besides being blinded by instant gratification?
4. Think about those that pursued Jesus on the very first Palm Sunday. What do you think were their motivations for pursuit? What role did these motivations play in the end?
5. What is the danger in pursuing Jesus out of need? (In other words, if I pursue Jesus to be healed and I am subsequently healed how might this affect my relationship with Jesus?)
6. Think about what it means to pursue Jesus simply because He is Jesus. Would this make a difference in your current relationship with Him? If so, how so?