Good morning. My name is Matthew Capone, and I'm the pastor here at Cheyenne Mountain
Presbyterian Church, and it's my joy to bring God's Word to you today. A special welcome if
you're new or visiting with us. We're glad that you're here, and we're glad that you're here not
because we're trying to fill seats, but because we're following Jesus together as one community,
and as we follow Jesus together, we become convinced that there's no one so good. They
don't need God's grace, and no one so bad that they can't have it, which is why we come back
week after week to hear what God has to say to us in His Word. We're taking a little break from our
series in the Gospel of Mark for the season of Easter this morning for Palm Sunday. We're going
to take a look at two passages, John chapter 12 and Hebrews chapter 2, and I'll warn you right away,
I'll be focusing mostly on Hebrews chapter 2, but I want us to look at John chapter 12 so we have
this reminder, this context of what it is we're talking about when we talk about Palm Sunday, that
Jesus is coming in as a king into Jerusalem. And we're just going to have a simple question, which is
this, why would we sing at Jesus entering Jerusalem? In our passage from John, I'm not sure if there's
singing or not, but they're certainly praising Him. They're excited about the fact that Jesus is
coming into the city, riding in like a king. Why should we be excited? What would move us to sing
for Jesus entering Jerusalem? So with that question, I invite you to turn with me. You can find both
passages printed in your worship guide. You can also flip quickly in your phone or in your Bible,
no matter where you go, remember that this is God's Word. And God tells us that His Word is more
precious than gold, even the finest gold, and it's sweeter than honey, even honey that comes straight
from the honeycomb. And so that's why we read now, starting at John chapter 12, verses 12 through 15.
The next day, the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.
So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, crying out, Hosanna! Blessed is He who
comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel. And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it,
just as it is written, Fear not, daughter of Zion. Behold, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt.
And we turn now to Hebrews chapter 2, verses 14 and 15.
Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise partook of the same things,
that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is the devil,
and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's Word.
Our Father in heaven, we praise you that Jesus is not just our Savior, but He's also our King.
And we thank you that you've given us your Word to instruct us and to help us.
We ask for that help. This morning, we confess that we are not up to the task of understanding
and believing what you have to tell us unless your Spirit and your help is with us.
And so we ask for that Spirit and that help, that as we look at your words to us,
that you would move in our hearts and our minds, that we would see and love and adore you more and more.
We thank you that we don't have to worry right now about whether we've done enough or been good enough
to earn these things from you, but instead we simply ask them in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
The 2004 feel-good sports movie Miracle tells the story of the USA hockey team in 1980
and how they defeated Russia, and it opens in Colorado Springs, of all places, in 1979
at the headquarters of USA hockey.
Later in the movie, we'll get to see a little bit of the Broadmoor World Arena from 1979.
And there's this meeting, this interview with Herb Brooks, who they're considering to be the coach of this team,
about how in the world they're going to be able to defeat the Soviet Union.
The Soviet Union has this lock on the Olympics.
They've won it for three or four Olympics in a row.
And the American team has been incredibly embarrassed.
They recently lost to a B team from the Czech Republic.
And so they have this discussion about whether they have any hope
and what they're going to be able to do if they're going to be able to pull together a team fast enough
and train them quickly enough.
Now, there's lots of ideas that are put onto the table about how it is they're going to be able to accomplish this,
whether they have any chance against the Soviets.
There's one idea, however, that never gets put on the table.
No one suggests that they should try to find better players from other countries.
Now, it seems like an obvious solution to me.
The Russians are beating you.
What should you do?
Hire some Russians.
Right?
I mean, that seems like that would solve the problem immediately.
And so why do they not do this?
Why do they not recruit people from another country?
If you think I'm asking a stupid question, it's because I am.
It's obvious, right?
That is part of the logic of the Olympics.
That's part of the logic of victory.
The champion has to be one of you.
That question is not even raised.
You probably think I'm an idiot for asking it because those are the rules.
No one would think anything different.
Of course, the USA Olympic team is made up of Americans.
That's the only way it's going to be able to happen.
You don't get to hire mercenaries.
Mercenaries are in it for themselves, right?
It's one of you who does it for all of you.
Americans are required for an American victory.
This principle is obvious to us when it comes to the Olympics.
It is so obvious to the author of the book of Hebrews that he assumes it.
Verse 14.
If Jesus is going to be our great champion, of course, he's going to have to become human.
That is the only way he's going to be able to represent us.
Verse 14.
Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things.
In other words, he became a man that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death.
Only Americans can represent America.
Nothing else makes sense.
It's obvious.
Only a man can represent men.
Jesus, as the champion of his people, becomes like his people.
Jesus, as the champion of his people, wins for his people.
That's the only way it can happen.
Who won in 1980 against the Russians?
Was it the 20 members of the team?
Or was it the United States of America?
Yes.
It was the 20 members of the team and the United States of America.
It was necessary for American players to defeat Russian players.
It's the only way it could be a victory for America on behalf of America.
It was necessary for a man to defeat Satan.
That's the only way it could be a victory for men.
That's what we see on Palm Sunday in our passage from the Gospel of John.
Jesus, as the king, is coming in to defeat Satan.
When Jesus rides into Jerusalem, he rides in as our champion.
He rides in to be a conqueror.
In the movie, when the final showdown comes between the Russian team and the American team,
we see the Americans coming onto the ice for the first time as the crowd welcomes them
because they have arrived to have the final showdown in battle.
When Jesus rides in as our king on Palm Sunday,
he is skating in on the ice, getting ready to defeat and conquer Satan.
He is preparing for that battle.
Jesus has showed up here in John chapter 12 because it's time for Satan to get trashed.
Why is it that we sing about Jesus entering Jerusalem?
Why is it that we celebrate Palm Sunday?
There are many things, certainly, that we celebrate around Easter.
One of them is this.
Our champion, Jesus, is entering the arena.
Our champion, Jesus, has finally come into Jerusalem for the final showdown.
Our champion, Jesus, is here to take Satan out back.
If you look in your worship guide, page four, we have this verse from 1 John chapter 3, verse 8.
The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
Jesus came because Satan had to be crushed.
Jesus came because of the promise that we read in Genesis chapter 3
that one day the offspring of the woman would come and bruise the head of the serpent,
which is a nice way of saying that Jesus came to curb-stomp Satan.
That is why he is arriving here in Jerusalem.
As the USA team enters into the arena before the game, what are the people shouting?
It's USA, USA, right?
Because that's what you do when your champion arrives.
John chapter 12, what are these people saying as Jesus enters the arena?
Verse 13, Hosanna.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.
What do we do with Jesus, our King?
We follow the people of Palm Sunday, and we praise him.
We also are able to sing hallelujah.
We are also able to say that Jesus is our great and mighty King,
and we are excited in praising him here, now, this morning,
because he has come as our champion to finish our enemy once and for all.
That is why and what we celebrate at Palm Sunday.
That's what we did earlier when we sang shout to the Lord together.
We said, power and majesty, praise to the King.
Jesus has skated onto the ice.
And now, for the rest of Holy Week, we get to watch the game,
knowing how it ends.
The time for Satan to be defeated has come.
And so we see here this answer, right?
We praise him because he comes.
He comes to wreck the devil, and we find out more,
verse 14 of Hebrews chapter 2, what that means.
He himself likewise partook of the same things,
that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death.
Now, what does it mean here that Satan is the one who has the power of death?
Well, I want you to think about it this way.
I'm someone who enjoys a good trail run.
One of my favorite places to go run is in Cheyenne Mountain State Park,
which is just 10 minutes south of here.
And when you run in Cheyenne Mountain State Park,
one thing you have to be aware of is there's a lot of snakes.
And snakes, during the summer, or really all the time, like to stay warm.
Where's the best place for them to hang out if they want to stay warm?
Right on the trail.
Because there's no cover or protection on the trail.
So they can just sit and lie out in the sun.
And so my job as I'm running along is to keep my eyes open
to make sure I don't step on a snake.
In fact, there was one time I jumped over two snakes in a row.
You might be thinking at this point,
what is wrong with me that I would be running in the state park with all these snakes?
Why do I not have a healthier fear?
And the reason is this.
It's not the bite that kills you.
It's the venom.
Most of the snakes in Cheyenne Mountain State Park are harmless.
They are garter snakes.
Garter snakes can bite you.
They can't kill you.
I did my research.
There's only one snake in Cheyenne Mountain State Park that can kill you,
and it's the rattlesnake.
Now, I had a conversation, I think it's been a couple years at this point,
with one of the park rangers over there,
and they told me,
you don't need to worry about the rattlesnakes too much
because the rattlesnakes are extremely territorial,
which means there's only a few of them.
So you got all these garter snakes.
I want to say, don't quote me on this,
there's maybe like,
I can probably count the rattlesnakes on one hand
that are in Cheyenne Mountain State Park,
and it's a big park.
Okay?
It's not the bite that kills you.
It's the venom.
The point is this.
Outside of Jesus,
death is a rattlesnake.
Outside of Jesus,
death is a rattlesnake.
It doesn't just kill you physically,
it doesn't just hurt you physically,
the bite,
it can also kill you spiritually,
the venom.
Death doesn't just kill you physically,
the bite,
it can kill you spiritually as well.
It has venom.
It can separate you from God forever.
Outside of Jesus,
death is a rattlesnake.
With Jesus,
death is a garter snake.
The power of death has been removed.
When death bit Jesus,
he absorbed all its venom.
There is no venom left.
When death bites you,
there is no venom left for you either.
Okay?
That's part of what 1 Corinthians 15 means
when it says this.
Oh, death,
where is your victory?
Oh, death,
where is your sting?
The sting of death is sin,
and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God
who gives us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Oh, death,
where is your sting?
In other words,
death,
where is your venom?
You know what all you can do now is?
All you can do is bite.
You can't kill.
The reality of death
is still here for all of us.
If you're a Christian,
its threat and its power is gone.
That's why we both lament
and rejoice at the funeral of a Christian.
1 Thessalonians 4 tells us
that we grieve,
but not as the world grieves
because we have hope.
We know that this person
has experienced the bite.
They are dead physically.
We also know
they have not experienced the venom.
They are not dead spiritually.
In fact,
what's true of Paul
says in Philippians 1
that if they die,
they go to be with Christ.
They're in the presence of Jesus,
and death cannot keep them from that.
Death has lost its power.
If you are a Christian,
death will bite you,
it will not and cannot
ultimately kill you.
It is inconvenient.
It is uncomfortable.
It is tragic.
It is not ultimately fatal.
Jesus dealt with the venom
when he dealt with Satan.
It cannot kill your soul.
Death is not your end.
Jesus disarms death.
He has removed the power of Satan,
which is the power of death.
Now, if you were with us
a few weeks ago
when Jonathan Clark preached,
he gave us this amazing,
wonderful quote about our hope,
and so I pinned him down on it,
and I made him help me find it.
And that quote is on page three
of your worship,
no, it's on page five
of your worship guide.
And he told us this,
that if we're in Christ,
we know that our bad things
will turn out for good,
our good things cannot be taken from us,
and the best things are yet to come.
Our bad things will turn out for good,
our good things cannot be taken from us,
and the best things are yet to come.
Those things are true and only true
because the power of death
no longer has a hold on us.
Our bad things will turn out for good,
so there's nothing Satan can hold over us.
Our good things cannot be taken away from us.
Death does not threaten the inheritance
that we have as sons and daughters of God,
and the best things are yet to come.
We know how the story ends.
The story ends in a great,
the greatest feast
as we're gathered together again
as God's people and brought back into his presence.
In other words,
no matter what happens in this life,
we cannot lose what is most precious and valuable.
No matter what happens in this life,
it's what we talked about in 1 Peter 1,
Satan cannot threaten our inheritance.
We have a treasure that's been stored up
that is untouchable.
Why is that true?
Because Jesus destroyed the devil.
And that's what we're celebrating on Palm Sunday.
Verse 14 also tells us about his strategy.
It's not just that he destroyed the devil,
but he did it through a specific way.
Through death,
he might destroy the one who has the power of death.
He used death to destroy death.
In the movie Miracle,
as they're watching the game tape of the Russians,
the coach points out to them
that you don't defend the Russians,
you attack them.
You take their game
and you shove it right back in their face.
Because the Russians were used to being able
to outskate anyone,
and so they'd always stay on the attack,
never on the defense.
Their goal was to return
and play their same game against them,
to make them,
force them to play defense
and let the Americans play offense.
Jesus takes death,
he takes its game,
and he shoves it right back in its face.
Jesus does the unexpected,
the counterintuitive,
he uses death to destroy death.
And so that's why verse 15,
he's able to deliver us
from the fear of death.
He delivers all those
who through fear of death
were subject to lifelong slavery.
This means a lot of things,
to be delivered from the fear of death.
It certainly means that we're delivered
from death being held over our heads
as a threat.
We saw that with John the Baptist last week.
Herod kills him.
So what?
John the Baptist gets to go
and be with Christ.
That's one of the amazing things
about Christians during persecution.
Death is not a threat to them.
And so it's a challenge
and a witness
to those who are opposing them
and persecuting them,
that they have a supernatural hope
beyond the grave.
Doesn't just mean that death
can no longer be held over our heads,
but death not being a threat anymore
means that we can look death
in the face without fear.
We live in a culture right now
that refuses to look death in the face.
That's why we live in a culture
that is obsessed with youth.
We live in a culture
that's obsessed with looking
and staying as young as possible,
as long as possible.
Why?
Because they're subject
to lifelong slavery
through fear of death.
If there's nothing after death,
then you have to do
everything you can to avoid it.
You must not look it in the face.
It's the same reason
our culture can't talk about death.
We used to have funerals
and memorial services.
Now we have celebrations of life.
Now, first of all,
don't hear what I'm not saying.
If you've had a celebration of life,
I'm not throwing you under the bus.
What I am saying
is that Christians
are the only ones
who can truly celebrate
the life of someone who's died.
If there is nothing
after this life,
then at some level,
ultimately,
everything in this life
is meaningless.
We cannot have
a true celebration of life
without grieving
what needs to be grieved.
And that celebration
is hollow
if there's nothing
after death.
That celebration
is hollow
if you and I
are simply tortured
atoms in this universe.
But it's Christians
who are no longer subject
to lifelong slavery.
It's because Jesus
came and crushed
the head of the serpent
that we no longer
have to fear death
that we can look it
in the eyes.
We don't live
with the fear of death
because we look
to something after it.
We have hope
for more.
Tim Keller
talks about this
in his book
Hope in Times of Fear
which came out last year
which is about the hope
that we have
because of the resurrection
and he points out
that life in this world,
living in this world
and our culture,
we're told that there's
nothing that comes
after death.
And he points out
that ultimately
that makes our lives
meaningless.
We try to take comfort
in symbolic transcendence,
the idea that what we do
will live on
in our work
or in the lives
of our children.
But the reality
is that in the end
whether you live
a life of goodness
or of cruelty
will make no final
difference at all,
the knowledge
of ultimate oblivion
even when somewhat repressed
seeps in
and robs life
of significance.
No one can live
consistently
with the belief
that we are only matter
and that our ultimate end
is oblivion.
So we have no hope.
Unless.
Unless there is a God
who has promised
to guide history
not to an end
but to a new beginning.
to a world
in which finally
death and evil
are completely destroyed
and justice and peace
reign supreme
the sign of which
is the resurrection.
Brothers and sisters
because Jesus
rides in on Palm Sunday
to crush the head
of the devil
you have hope
not just in this life
but in the life to come.
What you do now
truly does
echo through eternity.
what you suffer now
cannot threaten
what is most precious
and most valuable.
You no longer live
in the lifelong slavery
that comes
through the fear of death.
In the 2008 movie
Gran Torino
Clint Eastwood
plays this man
named Walt Kowalski
and Walt is a bitter
Vietnam War vet
who forms a relationship
with his neighbor
a young boy
named Tao.
And Tao gets mixed up
in a violent gang
in town
and finally gets
on the wrong side of them
the violence
escalates
more and more
until Walt decides
it's time
for him
to defend Tao
and finish it
once and for all.
And so we see him
making his preparations
for his final showdown
with a gang
that's threatening
his friend.
He goes
and he gets a haircut
he makes sure
his lawn is mowed
he makes his final confession
to a Catholic priest
and then he shows up
at the gang's apartment
and he stands
on the street
in front of it.
They open up
their windows
and they look
out at him
and Walt begins
to yell at them
telling them
all the things
that they've done wrong.
While he's doing this
all the windows
in the neighborhood
around him
also open up
and so we have
this scene
with tons of spectators
watching every move.
As the gang members
draw their guns
we see Walt
pull out a cigarette
and then he reaches
into his jacket
like he's going
to pull out a gun.
instead
he pulls it out
and all he's holding
is a lighter
for his cigarette
and at that moment
the gang kills him.
They just open fire
in the street
and we see this man
fall down dead.
What he does there
is the exact opposite
of what we expect.
The last thing
we think is going
to happen
is that Clint Eastwood
is going to show up
to a gunfight
with nothing but a lighter
and give up his life.
What we want
in that situation
is for him to come
and bring full
and final justice
by being the one
not who is shot
but the one
who does the shooting.
But instead
he reverses
all of our expectations
as something radical
and counterintuitive
and different.
Walt decides
that he is going
to defeat death
by death.
he is going
to defeat this gang
not by shooting
but by being shot.
And so in the next scene
we see the police officers
showing up
and they tell Tal
that because Clint
has done this
in the open square
where everyone
can see it
they have all
the witnesses
they need
to finally convict
and imprison this gang.
Walt knows
that the chain
of violence
is not going
to be ended
by more violence
but by death.
brothers and sisters
we also have a king
who rode in on a donkey
and did something
the opposite
of what the Jewish people
wanted and expected.
They were looking
for a conqueror
who would clean house
with the Romans
who would use force
to end force.
Instead he comes
to trample
and crush
the head
of the enemy
of his people.
He comes
to take care of
and destroy
Satan
once and for all.
he defeats
death
through death.
Tal
is no longer
subject
to the lifelong
slavery
the fear
of the gang.
He is now
able
to live
his life.
Why is it
that we celebrate
Palm Sunday?
We celebrate it
because it is
when Jesus
came in
to fully
and finally
destroy
the works
of the devil.
And so that's
why we're able
to say
with the people
in the crowd
Hosanna
blessed is he
who comes
in the name
of the Lord
even
the king
of Israel.
Let's pray.
our father
in heaven
we praise
you
and thank
you
that you
are not
just our
savior
but our
king
that you
came
and you
defeated
and trampled
Satan
once and for all.
We ask you
would give us
the hope
that comes
from knowing
that death
cannot threaten
what is most
valuable
to us
that it can
bite us
but it cannot
kill us.
We ask that you
would show us
Jesus this week
in all his
beauty
and his
glory
and you'd
bring us
back together
on Friday
and on Sunday
that we would
remember and
celebrate and know
what it is
that he's done
for us.
We ask all
these things
in the mighty
name of Jesus
Christ.
Amen.
I invite you
to stand
for our
closing hymn.