The King Rode For Peace

A parade can hide a diagnosis. When Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey, it looks like a celebration, but it is really a declaration: the King is coming in peace. We slow down the Palm Sunday story and ask why humility is the chosen vehicle of power, why the crowd shouts “Hosanna,” and why a donkey says something a war horse never could. If you have been craving peace with God, peace in your mind, or peace at your table, this message aims straight at the ache beneath the noise.

Then we bring it into real life with a hard but hopeful question: what would change if we stopped waiting for broken people to make it right and we took the first step? We talk about bitterness, family division, prodigal children, and how receiving grace gives us grace to give. You will also hear a story about a skeptical man, a surprising prayer, and a moment of healing that turns anger into openness, followed by guided prayers for salvation and for family restoration.

If this helped you, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs peace, and leave a review so more families can find it.

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Transcript

Welcome And Palm Sunday Theme

SPEAKER_02 0:39

Well, welcome.

Crowds Cry Hosanna In Jerusalem

Why The Donkey Signals Peace

Passover Lamb And Eastern Gate

Hosanna Means Save Now

From Grace To Family Repair

Choose Love Over Payback

A Bitter Man Meets Healing

SPEAKER_01 0:40

Today we're going to talk about the day the king rode for peace. Welcome. And if you're uh watching here and want to know more about what we're doing, we'll get to that as well. But I wanted to share with you a an eat kind of a Palm Sunday Easter message, though this is not Palm Sunday. And it's one of my favorite times this year. I am not preaching in a church this Palm Sunday. And so I'm sharing with you. I am excited to just communicate my heart, and I think what God is saying to us during this incredible time in the world. And today it's all about the king that rode for peace. And I just love that picture. Icy May, one of my team, she she set this up for me. And I just love that image. And so we're going to get into this story. And I want to just pray as we just kind of open God's word today in kind of this mini-sermon teaching time here from Southern California. And I'm so grateful to be with you and been excited about sharing with you some incredible things about this amazing day that Jesus wrote a young cult in. So let's pray. Father, I pray for all my friends that are watching, that are tuning in, and those who will see this at another time for this incredible season that we're in, this weekend, and then comes Easter. Wow. You did all these things so that we could have peace. And we ask you, Lord, to speak to us, use this time, and make us more like Jesus. If that's your prayer, too, say amen. Hey, welcome. Good to see my buddy Justin Carlton, one of my uh coaches in uh Fatherhood Academy. He's he showed up. It's good to see you, my friend. And matter of fact, we got a whole bunch of people kind of showing up. Lily Jackson, uh, we're gonna have notes for you so that you can you can you can't hear uh with your ears, but you can hear with your eyes. And so the Lord bless you. Today the king just rode for peace. You ready? Let's open the word of God together. Okay, here, you know, the Bible says that most of the crowds spread their cloaks on the road and other branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him, and they followed him and were shouting, Hosanna to the son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest, and when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was buzzing, saying, This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee. And I just love this amazing thing. And as I was studying this and looking at this, what's so profound about it is what it means. We're going to look at a couple of things. Here's one little snapshot here. Imagine, right, you're you're standing in the crowd, your your heart is pounding, and Jesus rides in, not on a war horse, mind you, but on a humble donkey. That choice alone just whispers a story. Why a donkey? Because, and they found this out, and it's just so cool. In those days, a a king on a donkey meant he was riding in for peace, not conquest. Jesus wasn't coming to overthrow the empire with swords, much to the chagrin of the Sanhedrin. He was coming to conquer hearts with his love. And I can't help but smile, thinking of how God flips our expectations all the time. Well, we want a certain kind of outcome, and God brings an outcome that he wants to give us in our life. And not only that, you know, looking at this next slide, is that, you know, the prefix Zechariah had pegged it centuries before. And so right there in Zechariah, he goes, and this is so cool. See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey. Jesus came riding on a donkey. I mean, right, and and hundreds and hundreds of years are before the prophet Zechariah had prophesied that. And here he's he's doing this on this time where they're getting ready for Passover. And it's just this incredible picture of him coming. Now, there's more you can tell. I'm really excited about this. It's Passover time in Jerusalem, and I'll and I'll make it big so you can read it. And in Jerusalem, just alive with pilgrims, every and the high priest would go and trek to. Now, notice where he goes. He goes to Bethlehem to pick a spotless lamb for the Passover and then carry it through the eastern gate on the tenth day of Nisan, four days before the sacrifice. I mean, that's far out right there. The people would line up as customary, and they would wave palm branches, shouting praises to God for the lamb that would bear their sins. Sound familiar? And on that very day, as the priest paraded the lamb, Jesus rode through the same gate. Coincidence? Not a chance. God's been writing a story since the stars were hung. And here he is. And just imagine the scene. The priest now has got his lamb all tied up. He's bringing him in. And all of a sudden, right behind him, he hears this commotion. And all of these people with palm branches there are now they're chaining their song because somebody is showing up. And matter of fact, the reason why they're all excited is that the crowd knew because they just heard this these whispers throughout the crowd, right? And I'll make it big for you. They had heard whispers of Lazarus raised from the dead. Lazarus, the friend of Jesus, was raised from the dead after four days. And that miracle, it screamed, Messiah. So they ran to meet him, laying their cloaks on the ground, which, by the way, is a sign of worship. It's saying, You are my king now. And in Zechariah 9, verse 3, it was a sign where they were laying down their identity and their lives for the king's cause. It also was an act of worship, just a profound act of worship that they did. That's just amazing. This is before they really knew who Christ was, but they suspected that he was the Messiah. They had this insight because they heard that this guy was raised from the dead. I just love that picture. And it goes on. And then they they got palm branches in the air, right? Their palm branches are you know, they're crying, Hosanna to the son of David. The word Hosanna actually isn't a cheer, it's a plea straight from Psalm 118, verse 25. And you know what that says? It says it means save now. So every time they were saying the word Hosanna, they're saying, save now, Lord, save me now, Lord. They were begging for the Messiah, the son of David, to rescue them. And there he was, the Lamb of God riding to the rescue, not with armies, right? But with a heart ready to believe for them. With a heart ready to believe for us. So amazing, this picture. And it goes on. There's more. Are you ready? There's more. You can tell I'm excited. I just love this story. It's a story about how God turns all of our lives around. And here's the and here's the the picture. Let's see if I got the right slide here. Boom. Let me just make sure. Okay. Oh, yeah. Yes, yes, here we go. So in John 12, verse 18 in ESV, it says it says, The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they that he had done this sign, the raising of Lazarus. They cried Hosanna to the son of David. And and which really means, save us, we pray, O Lord. We pray, give us good success. Hey, Micah, Snyder, there's my buddy. Good to see you. Hosanna, save now. It's a it's a plea, it's a worship for the Messiah to come. And it goes on, and the next day, John, you know, the next day, and this is a picture of John the Baptist, a story about what happened when John the Baptist was baptizing, and all of a sudden he sees Jesus, and his and and his reply is behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Before Jesus had really done any ministry long before years earlier, he says of Jesus, his cousin, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. In 1 Corinthians 5, 7, in ESV says, For Christ, our Passover Lamb has been sacrificed. Jesus came to be the Lamb, to be so he, and in his sacrifice on the cross, and when he shed his blood, he would cover the sins of mankind. But you got to receive it. It goes on. I'm excited. And here's what it gets personal for you and for me. You ready? The lamb that the priest carried, it was it was tied up, okay, inspected for four days to prove that it was perfect. Jesus entered Jerusalem on the tenth day, stepped into his own inspection. Now, the lamb that they carried in had him, he was all bound up, but Jesus actually stepped into his own inspection. They just tested him to send Hedron tested him with questions. Pilate and Herod cross-examined him. Four days of scrutiny, just like the four days that the high priest would they would test that lamb to see if that lamb was pure enough to be sacrificed for the sins of the people. Four days of scrutiny. And what did Pilate say? I find no fault in this man. What a picture. None. Jesus was a spotless lamb. He was declared worthy, not just to die, but to carry every sin. Think about that. Not only did he die for you, but he died to carry every one of your sins, every shame you've ever experienced, and every tear that you have ever known. Wow. What a picture. What a picture. And that's that's what he does. And what a profound thing when you really connect this whole story with the fact that he was the lamb, the sacrificial, perfect, spotless lamb, because he had no sin, and he died in our place. And we're going to get to what does this mean to you and your family? Well, here's a here's the next slide and picture that I just love. Now, what was the donkey's message? You ever thought about the donkey? Well, he came to bring peace with God. That was the message, Jesus on the back of the donkey. And the truth of the matter is, check this out. One day, Jesus will return riding a white horse to judge and make war. But until that time, we live in the time of the donkey's message. He came to bring peace, peace on earth and good will to men. And the only way that we can have peace or shalom in our life is that we have to be forgiven. We gotta be forgiven. And the more and the quicker we understand that, the more impact we have. And the more you're forgiven, and the more you're connected with the fact that that Christ died for you, the more grateful you get with people that are broken. And guess what's getting ready to happen around the holidays? The feasting will begin. But I've become acutely aware from many of my conversations with some of my dear friends in the Fatherhood Academy, is how many of their family they're separated from. Some of this bitterness, brokenness, kids have run away, kids have left church. And I mean to tell you, it it is a devastating thing for a dad and a mom to have their children run away and be separated from them. It's a devastating thing, but God has a way of repair. And so I want you to think a minute, and before I get to this next slide, I want you to think about the people that are coming over for your Easter feast. Maybe you have a Palm Sunday feast. Think about who's coming and also think about who's not coming. Think about those in your family that are like this with you, that are pushing away from you. Think about those people too. And think about what Jesus did when he came in and rode for peace to become a spotless lamb. You know what that says to you and me? There's nothing that God can't forgive that we've done. There's also nothing that the work, the perfect work of Jesus on the cross can't forgive that was done to you by somebody else. Maybe a friend, maybe an enemy. And yet, if you think of this the this Passover time and all those things that are around your life right now, who is that person that God is drawing you to carry the cross for? Because see, once you've received forgiveness for yourself, it's really impossible to give something that you've never received. But once you've received forgiveness, then you have forgiveness to give. Matter of fact, the Bible said that this way, we're able to forgive because he's first what forgave us. Let's get back to the next slide. I'm excited about sharing this. And so what does this mean for you and me? Okay. Let me read this with me. This is my commandment, Jesus said, that you what love one another as I have loved you. Think about the the that thing. It's we are called to love one another just the way God has loved us. See, Jesus laid down his life so we could know this never-ending love and pursuit of God. See, it's one thing, if you thought about this, it's one thing to love somebody that creates great value in your life. It's another thing altogether to be loved by somebody when you know you're completely broken. And you don't bring much value to the table because of the hurt, but they've chosen to love you. That's how we got saved, wasn't it? Didn't Jesus find you in this broken place and yet he didn't grill you into the ground. He died for you so that you could be free and you could be healed. That's the incredible message that he brought riding on a donkey. It doesn't matter how much you've done, how broken you've been. God just loves bringing his son to, he sent his son that would whoever would believe in him would not perish, but have everlasting life. All right, another slide or two. See, he calls us now. Now, now look at look at the application here. Because of what he's done for you and he's done for me, and how he laid his life down for us so that we could know God's love. He calls us to lay down our grudges, our prides, our opinions, and our differences, and love others as he has loved us. Is there anybody too far for God's grace? I mean, I I don't I know you've known this, I've said this many times on my podcast, but it's amazing to me how families separate because of their political choices. It's just devastating to think about. And how they demonize one another, where they just hate. And but what would change in your family if we stopped now now look what look at this line here. If we stopped waiting for our broken family members to make things right with us, and we were the ones who went and make it right with them. You might say, well, that's not very fair, Ed. They did a lot more, they they hurt me in in really bad ways. So yeah. But think about how Jesus has loved you and been in your life, and guess what? You completely rejected him for years until that moment where you said, Yes, Jesus, you might have this incredible. Relationship with Jesus, but at some point for you to come to know him, you became aware that you were completely broken in your sin. And if you've never had that moment, I'm going to pray at the end that you would. Because we the Bible says, for we've all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, all of us, you and me, everybody. But imagine be being so touched by the salvation and the gift of grace that God has given you that you're not waiting for your family members to make it right. You're not holding your breath till they do it. You're not saying, well, that won't happen till you know there's a snow in hell, you know, and and you know, there's just so much bitterness. I can't tell you, I I see it every day at the Fatherhood Academy, where people are just so angry and mad, and they want to pay back the hurt they receive with the bitterness that they have in their heart. And it never happens. You can never hurt someone enough to feel good about yourself. God's way, love one another just like I have loved you. And you know, every year come Easter time, I get reconnected to how lost I was, how blind as I was. But even though as blind as I was, I now see. That's his amazing grace. How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, you know the song, and now I am found I'm blind, and now I see. I love verse four. Though we've been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun. There are no less days to give God praise than when we first begun. You know, one of the most astounding things about salvation in heaven is that we will never stop discovering how magnificent the Son is, how amazing the Father is and the Holy Spirit for eternity. It's like how you know, people go, but what am I gonna do in heaven? Well, there's all kinds of things that happen, but it's the 24-hour day, you know, just revel more revelation. It's like God is gonna reveal more of himself to you over and over and over and over. And you never get to a point where you go, oh, I know him completely. And just mind-blowing moments of his goodness, and that's that's what all of those friends or family members, or maybe those who have made you their enemy, have never tasted. So who is going to bring the good news to them? Well, sometimes, many times, the most powerful person to do that is the one who's been hurt by them the most. You think about who's on your list, and why don't you be intentional this next you know, ten days and reach out and love and pray for and talk to maybe people that you've said I am never gonna talk to that person again, which is just fascinating to me. And so you're cutting them off, you're going to be well. And yet I suspect those people we don't make it right with it it just it just eats you up. Doesn't hurt them. Well, I think it does hurt them, but it it eats you up at well. Okay, let's uh let's tie this together. And so here's a here's a takeaway. Kind of a key takeaway. The king, right, rode for peace so that we could have peace with God and share that peace with others. So Jesus gave us his peace so that we could in turn give that to someone else. John uh 15, 13 says this greater love is no one than this, and someone would lay down his life for his friends. And I would say I would add in there, and also your enemies. They could be future friends, you know, people that say, I I would never ever have a relationship with you. And I remember a number of years ago, had an Easter service, and and we were we were getting all the wives to invite their husbands to come to church. We I had a lost husband's list. And I would pray over it every day, you know, getting ready for Sunday service, that they would visit the church and and meet Jesus. And and so in walks this guy who's you know, he's uncomfortable. And I walk over to him, and and I said, Well, good morning. And he looks at me. This is after the altar call and everything else. He goes, Not interested, been there, done that, doesn't work. My wife made me come. You had a nice speech, but I'm not interested at all. That to me is one of the that's a sign from me that God wants me to become a friend with this guy. It's kind of like when you throw a rock in a pack of dogs, which dog barks? The one that gets hit with a rock, right? Not that I'm throwing rocks at dogs, okay? I love dogs. I got Dino in the other room, probably be barking during this time. So I look back at Larry when he said to me, he basically just blew me off. I said, Larry, I believe we're gonna be great friends. He said, it's gonna be a cold day in hell. And I said, I'll tell you what, I'd like to I'd like to buy you lunch. Did you meet with me? Are you and then I did my own mono thing. I said, uh, are you man enough to meet with me for lunch? And he looks at me and he goes, Okay, fine. You you talk you do any of that Jesus stuff. I'm out of there. So we go to lunch, we go to our favorite restaurant, it's no longer there. It was called Felix's Cuban Restaurant. It was the circle of orange, and my wife and family and I, we ate more roasted chicken cubano chicken dinners with yellow rice and black beans. If you're a local person here, that was one of the most amazing, amazing things. And so I and so anyway, we sat down, we were eating lunch and everything, and we're towards the end of lunch, and I was praying, I was saying, Lord, I pray that you would you would just do something here, and you would open a door, and I saw something. I saw this thing, hard to describe. This it looked like a black object right over his heart. I go, do you have a serious heart condition? He goes, uh, what you talk to my wife? I said, no, no. I I think the Lord might have shown me that you have a serious heart condition. And matter of fact, I think that like a third of your heart tissue has been damaged, and you're getting ready to have surgery to get it repaired. And he's just, he's, he's like white. He goes, How do you know this? I just met with my doctor. I'm having open heart surgery in a week, and he told me that a third of because a third of my heart tissue is not functioning, and he's gonna try to save my life. And I looked at him and I said, Can I pray for you? And he was completely open. And so I I moved my chair closer there at the Cuban restaurant, and I put my hand on his heart, and I just prayed a simple prayer. Jesus, I asked you to come, and I said, and Larry, I speak to your heart. And when the surgeon opens you up, may he find that your heart muscle is completely restored, and he will say to you, I don't understand it, but your your heart is is like a young man's heart in the name of Jesus. Pulled my hand off. No fire from the sky or anything, a simple prayer that I just felt that God put in me to pray for him. Well, a week later, when he right after surgery, he was in he was recovering in post op. And his wife said, Ed, Larry wants to talk to you. And I said, What's up, Larry? He was crying. He says, I can't believe it. It's like the doctor just told me that all of my heart muscle that was was dead had come back alive. And they were able to clean out some arteries around there, and I didn't need the the surgery that they needed to do because my heart. God healed my heart. And I've been so bitter. And I went and prayed with him, and he gave his life to Jesus, maybe again, and he became one of my great friends, and he helped me build the church when we were building our church, he we hung out, and that prayer came true. See the reason I share that, he got peace, he got shalom in his life. He got shalom because of all the hurt and all the craziness. And I know there's some of you that are out there where you're just separated from the love of God in your life, and it's not because you you might not even understood that that's what was happening, but He's He's calling for you again. Maybe you got a physical issue, maybe you've got uh a place, you've got a broken family, but God wants to bring a healing in your life and give you a new beginning. And I'm just so profoundly uh joyful to be able to share the this message of this incredible story. You know, he he laid down his life and now it's our turn to go and love others as he's loved us. I mean, that's the that's the that's the joy that you and I get.

SPEAKER_02 35:29

Is there anything that's more uh amazing than to be a partner with Jesus and loving other people?

Prayer To Receive Jesus

Prayer For Prodigal Children

How To Connect And Grow

SPEAKER_01 35:44

It's the greatest thing that's ever happened to me in my life. Besides marrying the most amazing, beautiful girl and having all my I got all these grandkids all over the world and done all this ministry. But the thing that that rocks me every time I think about Jesus riding that horse in Jerusalem is he rode in and suffer for the sake of peace, so that all of us could know what it's like to be completely loved by God. And not only that, he rode that donkey so that we would be uh we would carry that too. And you know, it's kind of did you hear the story about the little cult? You know, after he he took Jesus into Jerusalem, he went back and it's an old story, and he got with all the older donkeys and and he was bragging that as he was going in, they were they were they were saying Hosanna to the son of David. They were worshiping this donkey. This this little cult was so excited, and one of the older donkeys looked at him and said, you know, maybe it was the guy you were carrying. Oh man, Jesus has made us to be someone who carries this grace in us for our own lives, our own families, for our own children, for our extended family, and for people that we meet, and even those people who have considered them our enemies. I've seen some of my enemies get saved. I got to be there with them. So amazing. Did I suffer because of stuff they did? Oh, yeah. But God has a way of putting us with people because he wants to love that person that's doing you wrong. So I want to pray for you right now. Maybe maybe you find yourself far from the Lord and you want you want peace. How do you get it? Well, here's a simple prayer that I prayed many years ago, and it completely changed my story. Just pray this with me. And and talk to the one who's riding that donkey that day. To say, dear Jesus, I give you my life. I want to be like those who not only praised you as you were coming in, but they took off their cloaks and laid them on the ground, which meant I'm honoring you as my king. I'm honoring you as my savior, I'm honoring you as my Messiah. And I ask you to forgive me for all of the sins and things I've carried for most of my life. I'm tired of being bitter. And I ask you to save my life, Jesus. I receive what you did that day and what you did on Calvary. And I ask you to make me a new man or a new woman. And I ask you to fill my life, Lord, with that hope. And so I give you this in the name of Jesus. Save my life. In Jesus' name. You pray. Amen. If you prayed that prayer, man, I'm just so grateful. I would I would love to connect with you if you want to connect to our ministry and connect with me. And just said, Ed, I just uh I just prayed and I gave my life to Jesus. That would mean so much to me. I want to send you a book. You can email me at edtandy at the father ofdifference.com and uh would love to pray for you. And before we get off, I want to pray for those who find themselves. You've been separated from your children. Maybe you're a grandpa. Maybe you got divorced and your kids are sideways, or you have some kids that ran away from church, ran away from you. And so let's see what God can do to bring peace in your family through this holiday time. So, Father, I pray for all these moms and dads and grandmas and grandpas that are watching, some single moms and single dads. I ask you, Father, to bring your shalom, your peace into their family and heal their relationship with their children. Heal their relationships with one another, heal relationships with wives and their husbands and husbands and their wives. You would bring forgiveness and healing this Easter time in a profound way. I pray you would mark them for the rest of their lives and mark their children. I pray for their prodigal kids that they'd come home in the name of Jesus. Father, I pray that you would break the power and the hands the enemy has put on many children and gotten them sideways with you, God, gotten them stuck in brokenness and in all kinds of crazy, diluted sexual bondage, Lord, that the enemy has offered is a new form of identity. Father, I ask you to break the power of that in the name of Jesus and have them wake up just like the prodigal son did, when he has run out of money and he had lived in crazy lives and partying. He woke up and realized and he turned home to his father. Father, I pray you would restore sons and daughters to moms and dads and grandmas and grandpas in the name of Jesus. To 2026, this year, Lord, we would see wave after wave after wave of restoration of families, of children to fathers and mothers and children to grandmas and grandpas. If you agree with me, pray for me, pray out loud right now. Father, move again on families, restore families in the name of Jesus. Restore them, Lord. Fill them, Lord, give them hope, give them a new beginning in the name of Jesus. Heal their families, Lord, heal their marriages, Lord. Break the power of the root of bitterness. The devil has sent many times unchallenged, even in the church of Jesus. Lord, equip your church to learn how to really forgive one another, not be so sectarian and divided, but we would come together for a grand, universal, over-the-top, greatest movement of young people coming to Christ the world has ever seen. It's happening. I ask you to bring it. I ask you to bring it. Father, bless Iran right now and all of the young people that are coming to Christ. Some think there are more than 20,000 a day that are coming to Jesus Christ. Father, I pray that you would continue to pour out your spirit around the world and on us. And we thank you, Jesus, that you rode that donkey for us. You were the perfect lamb, so that you completely set us free and heal us. And we honor you. In the name of the name of Jesus, we pray. And all God's people said, Amen. I'm so grateful that you hung with me. Thank you. And praying for you. If you want to know more about the father difference, check us out. Go to our website. You can email me if you need prayer. We'd love to connect with you. And we have a fatherhood academy. And uh it's it's just one of the joys of my life to be able to be there and help equip and do what God's doing. Lord bless you. We're gonna we're gonna be right on time and conclude this little mini service right at 45 minutes. The Lord bless you. I'm so grateful. Share this with your friends if you're gonna support us, that'd be awesome so that we can keep broadcasting and getting these things out. All that to say, the the king wrote for us and share this with your friends. We're praying for you. God bless you.

SPEAKER_00 44:58

If you've enjoyed what you've seen and heard today, and you want to know more about how to be the husband and father your family really needs, please go to thefatherdifference.com and click on the Fatherhood Academy and sign up today. It only takes one loving father to change the course of generations and one perfectly heavenly father to begin the process. May God bless you, and we look forward to seeing you in the Fatherhood Academy.