Palm Sunday 2024

What is the ideal look for the President? Should they be at least 5’10”, 175 lbs, dark hair, degrees from Ivy League schools? What should they look like? Furthermore, what policies should they focus on, how should they carry themselves, who should they surround themselves with?

Better question would be, should there be a way for a common, run of the mill, everyday person to become President? Would they have the same impact? Would people recognize them and hold them with the same regard? Now, what should the Savior of the world look like? How should He conduct Himself? How should He present Himself?

Jerusalem had been under Roman rule for nearly 100 years, and the Jews were tired of paying taxes to Rome, being under the rule of Roman governors, having to be under the constant eye of “foreigners”. They were ready for freedom, away from the oppression. When they thought of the Messiah, they were looking for someone who would deliver them from their earthly problems and restore their freedom. Desperate, they wanted to be set free. They were suffering physically, they wanted physical restoration, yet they did not realize their need for spiritual restoration.

All four gospels record the moments leading up to Jesus entering Jerusalem.

Leading up to this time, He is increasing His public ministry, healing the blind, eating with the tax collector Zacchaeus, using parables to teach those around Him, and ministering to the children. The days are growing short. Jesus has been increasingly persistent in preparing the disciples for His ultimate death. Three times He teaches of His death, burial and resurrection. Six days before Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany and was the dinner guest of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary. Mary had anointed Jesus with expensive ointment - a years wage worth of spikenard - and the act was met with criticism. Instead of wasting the ointment, why wasn’t it sold so the money could be given to the poor. Judas had no concern for the poor, but instead was trying to pad his own pocket. The disgust he felt, which would culminate in him betraying Jesus, the one he had spent the last 3 years learning from.

Judas wasn’t the only one disgusted with Jesus. As the crowds came to see Jesus, they also saw Lazarus - the walking miracle who was once dead but now lives. The chief priests were so concerned, they were also planning to put Lazarus to death. The next day, the crowds gathered again as they awaited Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem.

A Crowd Gathering

John 12:12–13 ESV

12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 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!”

At the time of Passover, the historian Josephus estimated over 2,000,000 people had gathered in Jerusalem. Records indicate up to 256,500 lambs were sacrificed, a lamb for at least 10 people, showing the number could be well over 2.5 million people. This many people led to the desire of entertainment, the feeling of a vacation, but it also turned into a time of political activism. It was a reminder - Passover reminded the Israelites of their freedom from slavery in Egypt. This led to hard feelings as many viewed the Roman occupation equal to that of slavery and violence was also known to occur. Knowing this, the religious leaders were not inclined to publicly ridicule Jesus, knowing the following He had gathered.

So, in silence, they watched the large crowd gathered, as they praised Jesus, and as they rose in their excitement of what Jesus might do.

They were working themselves up over what Jesus MIGHT do - they had a false image of Christ, seeing Him as an earthly Savior. They were growing in their enthusiasm as they were expecting political relief. As they see Jesus entering…they cut palm branches. Palm branches were a sign of victory, of triumph, and they waved them triumphantly as a conqueror rode the streets of the city. The people were waving them as Jesus entered, looking at Him as the conqueror. Jesus, though, came in peace, not in war, and would not live up to their expectations.

Have you ever thought whether Christians today have the same type of misconception of Jesus? Do we look to Him as a magic 8 ball that we shake when we want an answer? Do we think He is the Savior who stands ready to answer all our desires? Do we view Jesus as our genie in a bottle, only summonsing Him when was want a wish? Do we view Jesus as our spiritual Savior, our provider of eternal security, as we should?

Prince of Peace

John 12:14–15 ESV

14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, 15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!”

The synoptic gospels tell of Jesus sending two of His disciples to procure a donkey colt that had never been ridden. They were to bring it to Jesus while He was at Bethphage. If anyone asked them what they were doing with the colt, they were to tell them “Because the Lord has need of it”. The disciples found the colt, as Jesus had said, and when the owners asked why they were untying it, they had no objection allowing the Lord to use it.

The crowds were expecting to see the triumphant King riding in on a white horse ready for battle / war. Instead, they were going to see the humble Savior riding a donkey colt - a noble animal used by Kings when they entered a city in peace. The donkey was also a service animal, used to carry the burdens of mankind. The colt was also unridden - it was pure, never used before.

Jesus was showing the world He was the promised King, the Savior, and that He arrived in peace, not as a conquering King. He would be the Savior of Peace. He would also come to serve mankind, bearing their burdens for them. The colt signified the sacred duty Jesus was about to embark on, becoming the perfect, pure sacrifice as the promised Messiah.

This fulfilled the scripture of Zech 9:9

Zechariah 9:9 ESV

9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

While all indicators were in place, the crowd was not looking for fulfilment of scripture, instead they were looking for fulfilment of their desires.

Again, how often do we read scripture and understand the basic principles of the teaching yet we expect Jesus to fulfil our desires? We want to be quick to run to scripture, but then we fail to realize all does not end in our favor. You see Jesus came to fulfill His Father’s Will, not ours.

Confusion

John 12:16 ESV

16 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.

Even though the disciples had been taught and tutored by Jesus for the last three years, they were just as guilty as everyone else in misunderstanding what Scripture said. It wasn’t that they hadn’t been told, but they could not and would not fully understand what they had been told until after the resurrection. You see, they had to have a personal experience for their teachings to become clear.

The same goes for our faith. Without the personal experience, we do not always fully understand. It starts with conviction, admitting sin, believing in Jesus as our Savior, and confession and repentance. The personal experience of conviction starts our understanding of the Holy Spirits affect on us. When the Holy Spirit came to the disciples, He revealed the truth to the disciples and they were able to clearly see how Jesus had fulfilled the Scripture in the Triumphal Entry.

We were given Scripture to help us grow and understand. It is deep, and it takes the help of the Holy Spirit for us to be able to read and understand its meaning, in the same manner He helped the disciples understand. Since we have record of Jesus resurrection, no one has an excuse for not understanding why Jesus was here on earth. He came as Prince of Peace and as Savior for a lost and dying world. It is through His sacrifice that we have the opportunity for salvation and He now sits at the right hand of the Father.

Bearing Witness

John 12:17–18 ESV

17 The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. 18 The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign.

Now humanity kicks in - many people “believed in Jesus”, but many were there just to see what was going on. They were there for the excitement, the sensationalism. They wanted to see a show. Those who were there to see Jesus wanted to see what He truly had to say. They may have seen the miracles, they may have heard of the healings, they believed He was divinely appointed. But the others were there simply for entertainment. They wanted to see something spectacular.

Do we, too, at times come to see Jesus for what He can do? Do we think we can sneak a peek at some miracle Jesus can perform? Do we treat Church as the big tent? Or, do we come looking for a true moving experience?

Pharisees Reaction

John 12:19 ESV

19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”

The religious leaders were outraged and the reception Jesus recieved. They saw all these actions unfold, with thousands standing in the roadway welcoming Jesus as the Messiah. It infuriated them. They became upset, and began to accuse and blame each other for their inability to control Jesus in the past. They were ready to be done with Jesus. They complained that the world has gone after him. Little did they know that they were proclaiming truth, that Jesus had come to conquer the world and the world would follow Him. If we think of the people present, and those gathered to welcome Jesus, everyone must have been caught up in the excitement. All their eyes were on Jesus, crying out for their Savior.

What a picture of how the world should be crying for the Lord’s deliverance! Men by teeming thousands should be lining the roadways crying for His salvation.

How much difference would we see if we were focused on worshipping Him instead of seeing what He could do for us? Unfortunately, those who should have known Him the best, knew Him the least.

Luke 19:39–40 ESV

39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”

Closing

How often has Jesus worked in our lives, preparing and making arrangements for a triumphant entry…only to face rejection in the same way the Jewish leaders rejected Him? Yet, Jesus still obediently put everything in order as His Father had planned. He wouldn’t turn away, the same way He will not turn away from calling us today. You see, when Jesus returned to Bethany He spent His nights in the Mt of Olives praying. Maybe this is how Judas knew exactly where to find Him when he betrayed Jesus. But in all reality, it had to take place - the acceptance or rejection of Him as Messiah. The one who came to save them from their current condition. You see, they didn’t realize they needed salvation.

Today, Jesus is fulfilling the same mission - He is calling out to anyone who needs to be saved from their current condition and asks that they simply believe in Him so that they can be saved. Would you come today?