On the first Palm Sunday Jesus made His way to Jerusalem. It was a journey full of defining moments that led to Him fulfilling His destiny. Our own lives are also full of defining moments that help us discover and fulfill God's plan for our lives.

1. Luke 19:28-40Luke 19:28-40
After Jesus had said this, he went on
ahead, going up to Jerusalem. As he
approached Bethphage and Bethany at
the hill called the Mount of Olives, he
sent two of his disciples, saying to them,
“Go to the village ahead of you, and as
you enter it, you will find a colt tied
there, which no one has ever ridden.
Untie it and bring it here.

2. Luke 19:28-40Luke 19:28-40
If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you
untying it?’ tell him, ‘The Lord needs it.’
“Those who were sent ahead went and
found it just as he had told them. As they
were untying the colt, its owners asked
them, “Why are you untying the colt?”
They replied, “The Lord needs it.” They
brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on
the colt and put Jesus on it.

3. Luke 19:28-40Luke 19:28-40
As he went along, people spread their
cloaks on the road. When he came near
the place where the road goes down the
Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of
disciples began joyfully to praise God in
loud voices for all the miracles they had
seen: “Blessed is the king who comes in
the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven
and glory in the highest!”

4. Luke 19:28-40Luke 19:28-40
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said
to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your
disciples!” “I tell you,” he replied, “if
they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

5. Luke 19:28 -Luke 19:28 - After Jesus had said this,After Jesus had said this,
he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
•Jesus said many things during His ministry.
What are some of our favorites?
•The greatest thing Jesus taught was that
He would offer Himself for the sins of the
world and in this passage Jesus was on the
way to fulfill His destiny, death on the cross.
•This was the defining moment not only of
the life of Jesus, but the defining moment of
all of history.

6. Luke 19:28 -Luke 19:28 - After Jesus had said this,After Jesus had said this,
he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
•We are also on a spiritual journey which
will have a number of defining moments
along the way.
•What are some defining moments in our
lives?
•Regardless of how many defining moments
Christians have in our lives, we can rejoice
that our final destination on our spiritual
journey is heaven.

7. Luke 19:28 -Luke 19:28 - After Jesus had said this,After Jesus had said this,
he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
•For those who refuse to accept Christ, the
final destination on life’s journey is eternal
separation from God. Proof that sometimes
the destination is just as important as the
journey!
•Unfortunately, many of us get sidetracked
on our journey and wander in circles.
•When we find ourselves sidetracked in our
spiritual journey, we need to remember our
spiritual destiny and refocus on Christ.

8. Luke 19:30 -Luke 19:30 - Go to the village ahead ofGo to the village ahead of
you, and as you enter it, you will find ayou, and as you enter it, you will find a
colt tied there, which no one has evercolt tied there, which no one has ever
ridden. Untie it and bring it here.ridden. Untie it and bring it here.
•Jesus sent two of his friends ahead of the
group to make preparations for His coming.
•Jesus sends us out into the world to
prepare people to receive Him.
•What are some ways we can prepare the
way for Jesus to come into the lives of
others?

9. Luke 19:30 -Luke 19:30 - Go to the village ahead ofGo to the village ahead of
you, and as you enter it, you will find ayou, and as you enter it, you will find a
colt tied there, which no one has evercolt tied there, which no one has ever
ridden. Untie it and bring it here.ridden. Untie it and bring it here.
•They were told they would find a young colt
that no one had ever ridden. The other
three Gospels tell us this colt was a donkey.
•No one had ever ridden this young donkey
before. It was untrained and had no
experience carrying a rider. Yet, it was the
one Jesus wanted to use for His final trip
into Jerusalem.

10. Luke 19:30 -Luke 19:30 - Go to the village ahead ofGo to the village ahead of
you, and as you enter it, you will find ayou, and as you enter it, you will find a
colt tied there, which no one has evercolt tied there, which no one has ever
ridden. Untie it and bring it here.ridden. Untie it and bring it here.
•Fulfilling our destiny may require us to do
things we have never done before.
•We may feel inadequate for the task.
•We may BE inadequate for the task.
•But when Jesus calls us to do something
special, He will also equip us to accomplish
what must be done.

11. Luke 19:30 -Luke 19:30 - Go to the village ahead ofGo to the village ahead of
you, and as you enter it, you will find ayou, and as you enter it, you will find a
colt tied there, which no one has evercolt tied there, which no one has ever
ridden. Untie it and bring it here.ridden. Untie it and bring it here.
•They were to untie the young donkey and
bring it to Jesus.
•Before this young donkey could be useful
to Jesus, it had to be freed from the rope
that tied it.

12. Luke 19:30 -Luke 19:30 - Go to the village ahead ofGo to the village ahead of
you, and as you enter it, you will find ayou, and as you enter it, you will find a
colt tied there, which no one has evercolt tied there, which no one has ever
ridden. Untie it and bring it here.ridden. Untie it and bring it here.
•Many of us need to be freed from the
chains that hold us back so we can become
all that God wants us to be.
•We must stop telling ourselves what we
cannot do and start trusting God to do all
that He wants to do in our lives.

13. Luke 19:31 -Luke 19:31 - If anyone asks you, WhyIf anyone asks you, Why
are you untying the colt? tell him, Theare you untying the colt? tell him, The
Lord needs it.Lord needs it.
•Jesus warned them that some people
would question why they were taking the
colt. They were to respond that the Lord
needed the young donkey.
•Some people will question the changes
God brings in our lives. We should explain
to them it is part of God’s destiny for us.
They may not understand that, but it is the
only answer we have to give.

14. Luke 19:35 -Luke 19:35 - They brought the colt toThey brought the colt to
Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt andJesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and
put Jesus on it.put Jesus on it.
•The disciples obeyed Jesus and brought
the colt to Him.
•Having no saddle or horse blanket, they
put their cloaks on the young donkey so
Jesus could ride it into Jerusalem.
•The disciples did not have everything they
would have liked to have for this task, but
they used what they did have and it worked
out just fine.

15. Luke 19:35 -Luke 19:35 - They brought the colt toThey brought the colt to
Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt andJesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and
put Jesus on it.put Jesus on it.
•When Jesus calls us to deeper levels of
commitment to Him, we just have to walk in
obedience even when success seems unlikely.
•We must start with whatever we have, in
whatever situation we find ourselves, and walk
with Jesus where ever He takes us.
•We may not have all our issues worked out
completely, but we should start following
Jesus anyway so we can achieve our destiny.

16. Luke 19:36 -Luke 19:36 - As he went along, peopleAs he went along, people
spread their cloaks on the road.spread their cloaks on the road.
•As Jesus came into town, the people began
to spread their cloaks on the road in front of
Him.
•This was a traditional Jewish way of
honoring someone special and was the
equivalent of rolling out the “red carpet” in our
culture.
•These people honored Jesus in the way that
fit their culture. What can we do to honor
Christ in ways that fits our culture?

17. Luke 19:37 -Luke 19:37 - When he came near theWhen he came near the
place where the road goes down theplace where the road goes down the
Mount of Olives, the whole crowd ofMount of Olives, the whole crowd of
disciples began joyfully to praise God indisciples began joyfully to praise God in
loud voices for all the miracles they hadloud voices for all the miracles they had
seen.seen.
•This event was prophesied in Zachariah
9:9 and most of the people present would
have known that prophecy well.
•When the people realized they were
literally seeing prophecy fulfilled, they
obviously got excited.

18. Luke 19:37 -Luke 19:37 - When he came near theWhen he came near the
place where the road goes down theplace where the road goes down the
Mount of Olives, the whole crowd ofMount of Olives, the whole crowd of
disciples began joyfully to praise God indisciples began joyfully to praise God in
loud voices for all the miracles they hadloud voices for all the miracles they had
seen.seen.
•When Jesus got to a certain point, it
suddenly dawned on the crowd who Jesus
was and what this event symbolized.
•They spontaneously began to shout
praises to God and give testimony of the
many miracles they had seen.

19. Luke 19:37 -Luke 19:37 - When he came near theWhen he came near the
place where the road goes down theplace where the road goes down the
Mount of Olives, the whole crowd ofMount of Olives, the whole crowd of
disciples began joyfully to praise God indisciples began joyfully to praise God in
loud voices for all the miracles they hadloud voices for all the miracles they had
seen.seen.
•At various points in our spiritual journey,
pieces of the puzzle fall into place and we
realize more of who Jesus is.
•In those moments something changes
inside us and our spirit begins to shout.

20. Luke 19:37 -Luke 19:37 - When he came near theWhen he came near the
place where the road goes down the Mountplace where the road goes down the Mount
of Olives, the whole crowd of disciplesof Olives, the whole crowd of disciples
began joyfully to praise God in loud voicesbegan joyfully to praise God in loud voices
for all the miracles they had seen.for all the miracles they had seen.
•Unfortunately, in their excitement, the
crowd missed one key part of that
prophecy.
•If the “King” rode a horse into town, it
meant he was coming to conquer the
enemies of the people.
•If he road a donkey into town, it meant he

21. Luke 19:37 -Luke 19:37 - When he came near theWhen he came near the
place where the road goes down the Mountplace where the road goes down the Mount
of Olives, the whole crowd of disciplesof Olives, the whole crowd of disciples
began joyfully to praise God in loud voicesbegan joyfully to praise God in loud voices
for all the miracles they had seen.for all the miracles they had seen.
•The crowd thought that Jesus was going to
throw off the foreign Roman government that
had occupied Jerusalem for so many years.
•They failed to realize Jesus was actually
coming to bring peace to the hearts of
mankind.

22. Luke 19:37 -Luke 19:37 - When he came near theWhen he came near the
place where the road goes down the Mountplace where the road goes down the Mount
of Olives, the whole crowd of disciplesof Olives, the whole crowd of disciples
began joyfully to praise God in loud voicesbegan joyfully to praise God in loud voices
for all the miracles they had seen.for all the miracles they had seen.
•It was that misunderstanding of why Jesus
came that allowed that same crowd only
days later to turn on Jesus and shout
“crucify Him!”
•When Jesus first comes into our lives, we
often misunderstand His intentions.

23. Luke 19:37 -Luke 19:37 - When he came near theWhen he came near the
place where the road goes down the Mountplace where the road goes down the Mount
of Olives, the whole crowd of disciplesof Olives, the whole crowd of disciples
began joyfully to praise God in loud voicesbegan joyfully to praise God in loud voices
for all the miracles they had seen.for all the miracles they had seen.
•We often mistakenly think that Jesus has
come to make all our problems go away
and make us live “happily ever after.”
•But that is the Cinderella story, not the
Jesus story!

24. Luke 19:37 -Luke 19:37 - When he came near theWhen he came near the
place where the road goes down the Mountplace where the road goes down the Mount
of Olives, the whole crowd of disciplesof Olives, the whole crowd of disciples
began joyfully to praise God in loud voicesbegan joyfully to praise God in loud voices
for all the miracles they had seen.for all the miracles they had seen.
•When we misunderstand why Jesus wants
to be involved in our lives, we begin to see
Him as a cosmic Sugar Daddy.
•Then, when Jesus does not grant our every
desire, we are tempted to abandon our faith
in Him thinking that He let us down.

25. Luke 19:37 -Luke 19:37 - When he came near theWhen he came near the
place where the road goes down the Mountplace where the road goes down the Mount
of Olives, the whole crowd of disciplesof Olives, the whole crowd of disciples
began joyfully to praise God in loud voicesbegan joyfully to praise God in loud voices
for all the miracles they had seen.for all the miracles they had seen.
•Jesus does give us a lot of help, but not
always in the ways we thought He would.
•He helps us make sense of the senseless
parts of life. He brings peace in the middle
of our adversity. Jesus gives hope to the
hopeless as He walks with us through the
trials in our lives.

26. Luke 19:39 -Luke 19:39 - Some of the Pharisees in theSome of the Pharisees in the
crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke yourcrowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your
disciples!”disciples!”
•The Pharisees did not like it when the
people got excited about Jesus.
•The Pharisees were the people who
emphasized all the “dos” and “don’ts” of
Jewish religion.
•They were more concerned with making
sure people followed the rules than how
much passion those people had for God.
•Pharisees destroy the very point of faith!

27. Luke 19:40 -Luke 19:40 - “I tell you,” Jesus replied,“I tell you,” Jesus replied,
“if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”“if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
•The Pharisees were scared of spiritual
passion.
•Jesus explained that such spiritual passion
should not be quenched and if it did, the
stones themselves would have cried out in
praise to Jesus!
•Our culture is also scared of spiritual
passion because they equate spiritual
passion with fanaticism. But they are not the
same thing.

28. Luke 19:40 -Luke 19:40 - “I tell you,” Jesus replied,“I tell you,” Jesus replied,
“if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”“if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
•Fanaticism looks for ways to use faith to
control, destroy or punish those who do not
agree.
•Spiritual passion looks for ways to help
people discover a personal connection with
God so that their lives can be full of peace
and joy in the midst of pain.
•Passion is a blessing. Fanaticism is a
curse.

29. Luke 19:40 -Luke 19:40 - “I tell you,” Jesus replied,“I tell you,” Jesus replied,
“if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”“if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
•For many people, it takes a long time to
find real spiritual passion. Once we find it,
we must not let anyone quench it.
•What spiritual passions has Jesus given us
in our lives?
•How can we learn to refocus on those
passions so that our lives fulfil the destiny
God has for us?

30. Conclusion:Conclusion:
•We are on a journey through life that has a
final destination.
•It is easy to get sidetracked on our journey
and we must constantly refocus on Jesus.
•Jesus may call us to serve Him in ways we
do not expect nor feel adequate to fulfill but
we should still say YES to Him.
•We must not let anyone stifle our passion
for Christ and we must remain committed to
fulfilling the destiny God has for us.