“What Is Palm Sunday About?”

Introduction

Today is the day that marks the beginning of something called “Holy Week”. Everything that happens to Jesus in the last week of his life starts right here on Palm Sunday.

Text Context

Literally, the day before this happens in John 12, we see that Jesus has arrived in Bethany, which is where Lazarus lived. It is no surprise that he comes here, because he has just raised Lazarus from the dead in John 11, so six days before the Passover and one day before his coming to Jerusalem, he stops at Bethany.

While he is at Bethany, Martha, one of Lazarus’ sisters, prepares a dinner for Jesus in his honor. They were so honored to have Jesus here, that Mary another one of Lazarus’ sisters takes out a very expensive perfume, and starts wiping Jesus’ feet with her hair. This may seem weird to some of us because we are asking the question in our minds: Why did she all of a sudden get down and wipe Jesus’ feet with her hair??

Well, she wanted to be a blessing by getting her hair dirty. Even though it was humiliating and improper. In this culture, it was considered improper for a woman to let her hair down in public, but Mary let her hair down in honor of Jesus to wipe his feet.‌

But while all of this is happening, Judas is with Jesus. Judas is confused. He is confused as to why Mary is wiping Jesus’ feet. He is so confused that asks Mary:

“Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor?”

Judas didn’t say this because he cared about the poor, but because he is already a thief.

But Jesus steps in and tells Judas to leave her alone. It was intended that Mary save the perfume for the day of Jesus’ burial. Jesus was saying that the perfume and what she was doing was not a waste, but it was something that was valuable. While all of this is happening, a large crowd of Jews followed came to see Jesus and Lazarus, and so the the leading priests made plans to kill Jesus.

Next in the chapter, we get to Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. As we know already, we can read about Jesus coming to Jerusalem in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. But when it comes to John, he is not really like the other gospels. How?? Well, Mathew, Mark, and Luke tell us that after untying the donkey for Jesus to ride on, they start to lay clothes out on the donkey and on the roads. And that is a symbol that Jesus is the new king that is coming. This comes from 2 Kings, when the new king Jehu was coming, they actually laid clothes down on the ground and on the donkey to show that the new king was coming.

But it is only in John that we are told that Jesus is not only riding on a donkey, but the people are actually waving palm trees. And like I said, they are doing this because there is a new king that is coming into town. There is somebody who is coming.

Message

All of this makes us wonder what is all of this about. There are some churches that pass out palm branches on Palm Sunday. Some churches pin palm branches on people’s clothes and sometimes may mess up their outfit. And again, all of this makes us wonder: What is Palm Sunday About??

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Body of Message

It’s about Jesus’ power.(v. 12-13)

Verses 12-13 say “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, shouting, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the king of Israel!””

They were grabbing the Palm Branches, but they were shouting Hosanna. In this culture palm branches are very significant. They mean goodness and victory. It was a symbol of Israel’s freedom. The Israelites waved palms two centuries before this time as a victorious people when they were able to defeat the Syrian enemies. Palm branches were very important in this time. You know we have presidents on our money and coins, they literally put palm branches on their coins. Palm branches were everywhere. King Soloman had palm branches be put on important buildings. Palm branches were super important.

So since Palm branches were a symbol of victory and of freedom, when they saw Jesus, they felt so much victory and so much freedom. Despite the fact that they were controlled by the Roman empire, these were a people who had been taken control of by mistreatment and had been labeled as insignificant and put at the bottom of society.

But when they saw Jesus, they grabbed those palm branches and got excited because they knew that victory was coming their way.

EX: That is just what we should do. Despite what we have been through, we still should rejoice and be glad because we already know that victory is coming our way. This semester, My sister ran for Dillard University’s 89th Student Government president.

Unfortunately, she didn’t win the election.

So on Thursday, me and my mom talked about it. And she told me that she was upset because she prayed and prayed and prayed that she would win, and she didn’t. So she told me this and asked for my perspective. I told her that I just look at this as an opportunity. I said she may have lost this race this year, but it’s not the end. This is not her final year. She may have lost, but she doesn’t know what God has for her next. She might’ve lost this time, but victory is coming next. Despite what you have been through, victory is on your way. And the people of Jerusalem realized that.

Michael Jordan was rejected to play on his high school basketball team his sophomore year. He was upset, but he started to work harder, gain more perseverance, gain more determination, and the next year he came back with the same coach and team, and made the team his junior year. He went to have one of the greatest careers in the NBA with multiple championships and MVPs. You may think that failure is final. That just because you went through something or you’re going through something, it is over, but just because we have failed this one time, that doesn’t mean that it is over, because victory is coming our way.

Not only were they waving palm branches, but they were also saying something. They were saying: “Hosanna”. The word Hosanna is a Hebrew word. It is a word that is used in songs of praise. It literally means save “save us” or “deliver us” or “help us”. The people of Jerusalem knew that he was able to save them. When we look at this in the text, we learn something about Jesus’ power.

While some just saw Jesus as a prophet, some just saw him as a teacher, others just saw him as a man who went around Galilee doing miracles, but the people of Jerusalem knew that he was all of that, but they saw him with a different view. They saw him more than just that. They saw him as the new king of Israel. They saw him as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. They saw him as the one who would bring his people victory.

EX: I don’t know about you all, but as for me, I look at Jesus not just as a teacher, not just as a prophet, not just as a man who did miracles, I look at him as the Savior. I see him as the one who is perfect. The one who comforts me. The one who gives me peace. We see him as the way, the truth, and the life. We oughta see him in the true light that gives light to the world. The rock in a weary land. The shelter in a time of storm. We oughta look at Jesus as more that just a teacher and a prophet.‌

We know Jesus as more that just a prophet and a teacher. We actually know him as Hosanna. He has saved us from some things. Saved us from losing our minds. Saved us from some bad and toxic relationships. Saved us from sin. Saved us from being stuck in the same place. Saved us from being stuck in the box that people wanted us to stay in. Jesus is Hosanna!! Palm Sunday is about Jesus’ power.

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It’s about having patience.(v. 14-16)

Verses 14-16 say “Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written: “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.” At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.”

He gets on a donkey, but he doesn’t just get on the donkey just because. We look at this and we see Jesus as the humble, meek, and mild person he is. He does not ride in on a chariot. He does not ride in on a majestic horse, but he rides in on a donkey. He rides in on a donkey because he couldn’t ride in on a chariot or a majestic horse.‌

See, over in Zechariah 9:9, it is said that the new king will come into Jerusalem riding on a donkey. So when Jesus comes riding a donkey, he is actually fulfilling the prophecy of the old testament.

But that is not the shout. Verse 16 says that when his disciples (the people that had followed him all throughout his ministry) saw this, they did not understand it. It wasn’t until later after Jesus had been dead, buried, and resurrected when they finally understood it.‌

There are some seasons where God will allow some things to happen to us and it won’t make any sense. God allows some things to happen to us and we will wonder what God is up to. Look at this from the disciples’ perspective. They're looking around and all they’re seeing is branches, and shouting, and a donkey, and they’re wondering, what is going on. They’ve forgotten that some things have to happen so that the Scripture could be fulfilled.

It might not make sense now, but God promises that it will later on. We just have to have patience. There are some of us that look back and see that the things that God did and now what we thought was bad turned out to be good. We may not understand it now, but it will make sense. In fact Jesus in John 13, when he was washing the disciples’ feet, Peter asks Jesus “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus replies to Peter and says “You don’t realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

You may not understand why God removed those friends from your life, but you will later on when God later on reveals them as enemies and puts some new friends around you that will uplift and help you. We may not understand it now, but we will. We have to have patience in the process. We have to slow ourselves down and say God I don’t understand what is going on, but I'm going to be patient.

In the meantime when we don’t understand why or how God did it, we not only have to have patience, but we just have to trust him. Trust that he knows what he is doing. We have to trust that his timing is perfect.

EX: When I google something, I can have an answer within seconds. When I order a mobile order from Starbucks, I can expect to just walk in, get my order, and walk out. When I order food at a fast food restaurant, I can expect it to be quick, hot, and fresh. When my Dad let’s me order a tie or a shirt from Amazon, I can hit the BUY NOW button and I know that it will soon just show up at our front door. When it comes to things like this, we expect those things to be fast. When it comes to our faith in God, we struggle because God doesn’t always instantly respond to our prayers when we want him too. We want him to answer back to us quickly, and if he doesn’t, we would think that he is ignoring us. When it comes to patience with God we have to remember that His timing is not our timing. But his timing is right, so that when he does answer our prayers and when he does make it clear, it will be the right times. The old preacher put it like this: “He may not come when you want him, but he is always on time.” God may not make it clear right now, but he will later, because his timing is perfect.

Just because we don’t know what God is doing and we don’t know his timing, doesn’t mean that we just stop trusting and believing in him. Abraham praised God beneath the stars, even though he didn’t understand how he’d ever become the father of nations. David praised God in the wilderness. even though he didn’t understand why he was running for his life. The Israelites praised God, even though they didn’t understand Jericho’s wall would fall without a fight.

Let me go back to my first sermon: Mary trusted God, even though she didn’t understand what her son was saying. Whenever we don’t understand what God is doing, we just have to be patient and trust him, and trust that he knows what he’s doing. Trust that all things work together for the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to his purpose. We have to be patient in the process and trust him.

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It’s about praise.(vv. 17-18)

‌Verses 17-18 say, “Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. 18Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him.”

In verse 12, we learn that there is a crowd. But in verse 17-18, we learn who all is in the crowd. Back in John 11, Jesus went to the grave of Lazarus and called his name and Lazarus came out. Well, there was a crowd who saw what Jesus did. In verse 17, the crowd was trying not to tell anybody, but they just kept talking about it. See, it’s hard to keep it to yourself when you’ve seen God do it with your own eyes. In verse 18, many people came into the crowd because they had heard about the miracle.

Because the people in the crowd were talking about Jesus, they got others so curious and so amazed, that they just wanted to meet him for themselves. Did you know that YOU can talk about Jesus so much that you could get someone so curious and amazed. You could go to school, home, anywhere and everywhere, and talk about Jesus so much that you could get someone so curious and amazed. You don’t know the lives that you could touch, the people that you could change, the people you could get interested just by talking about Jesus.

And I like this because these people in the crowd told their story. They told about what they had seen the Lord done. They had gotten other people so interested about Jesus, just by telling their story. If you don’t leave here with one thing from this, just remember to tell your story. They told their story, And you don’t have to have a big resurrection story like Lazarus, you don’t have to have a near-death experience story, you can have a personal story.

EX: I remember about a month ago my mom picked me up from school, and she was taking me to golf practice. I got in the car and I heard her talking on the phone to my Dad about how my grandfather went into the hospital. I got so nervous. I had so many questions, but my mom told me not to worry about it. So after my practice, later that night, me and my Dad went to go see him, and we asked him what happened. He told us that he had gotten a little dizzy and felt light-headed, so the doctors were gong to run a few tests on him. About a week later, he was out of the hospital, and I was able to have lunch with him, and I asked him if those doctors found anything wrong with him and he told me that they didn’t find anything serious wrong with him. He just take his medicines at the time they are prescribed. I may not have a Lazarus story, but I thank God that I have a Raymond Hicks story.

Tell your story. You don’t have to come up with a big and dramatic story, but you can just tell the story you have to the best of your ability. You can get other people curious and amazed about Jesus by telling your story. And we all have different stories. We have stories where we were sick and God healed us, where we felt weak and felt like we couldn’t do it, but God gave us strength. We have stories where we were dealing with some tough people, but God put forgiveness and compassion on our hearts. We have stories where we were once confused and God gave us knowledge and understanding. JUST TELL YOUR STORY!!

And that is where your praise comes from. Your praise comes from your story, because as you look back over your life, you see that God has kept you, God has given you strength, God has comforted you, God has counseled you. You look back over your life and you - and I don’t care if you’re 14 like me or 50 like my parents - see that God has been good. That is where your praise comes from. Just by telling your story.

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Conclusion

‌What is Palm Sunday about?? It is about Jesus’ power. The people saw him as their liberator and as their savior, and we see him like that too. It is about having patience. Even though God may show it to you now, that doesn’t mean that you will forever not understand, because if you just trust him and have patience in the process, he will make it clear to you. But then, Palm Sunday is about praise, because the people told their story, got others curious and interested, and were praising him, not only for what they knew him to be, but they were praising for what they saw and heard him do. They were telling their story, and they started to praise because of their story. So as we celebrate this Palm Sunday, we oughta thank God for Jesus’ power, thank God that he shows us that if we have patience, he’ll make it clear to us, and that when we look back on all that he has done, we see all that he has done for us, and we give him praise. Happy Palm Sunday!