Palm Sunday 2025: The Very Stones Would Cry Out

Intro

Today we are going to take a brief detour from our series in the first 11 chapters of Genesis to spend some time in the Gospels. Today is historically known as Palm Sunday, the first day of Holy week for those who follow any kind of liturgical calendar and it is the day that the church has traditionally remembered the events surrounding Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. This is the beginning of the events surrounding the death and resurrection of Christ and so it is fitting that we take some time to meditate on these things as we prepare our hearts to think more deeply this coming week on the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.

Now we have seen this story several times now as a church. We learned about it through the words of Matthew when Jake preached through the first 11 verses of Matthew 21 and we also spent some time reflecting on these events when I preached through Zechariah 9 and the prophecy of the coming Messiah entering the city of Jerusalem mounted on a donkey.

There is no denying that the events that we read about here are central to the story of Christ. This account is among the very few accounts that is recorded in all 4 gospels outside of the direct events of Jesus’s death and resurrection. This goes to show us just how important these events are and we will see today some of the reasons why this event is recorded 4 times and it is not just that this is the kickoff event of the passion of our Christ.

Now, while the gospel writers clearly give a high level of importance to this event for many believers the triumphal entry is really just the opening event in the Easter story books that we read to our children. Some churches wave palm branches during service and stuff like that, I for my part don’t remember that kind of thing in the church that I grew up on though I am sure we did cover the triumphal entry in Sunday school and there may have even been a palm branch in there somewhere.

So lets take a moment to pray and then we will take up this account of the entrance of Christ into Jerusalem on the first day of the week in which He was to be crucified.

PRAY

Now again, as I noted the account of the triumphal entry can be found in all 4 gospels though each account places the focus on certain aspects of the entry. For today we are going to primarily focus on the accounts of Luke and John as Jake has previously covered that of Matthew and the account in Mark is very similar to that in Luke.

We need to understand that Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem begins far north in the region of Galilee and the northern part of Samaria. We read in Luke 9:51 10 chapters before the triumphal entry:

Luke 9:51 ESV

When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.

He was near or in Samaria at this point because he sends His disciples to a samaritan village to make preparations for them to stay there and they are refused and so they continue along the road to Jerusalem at some point crossing over the Jordan and heading south on the East side of the Jordan and then cross back when they are nearing Jericho which is on the western side of the Jordan. Now obviously a lot happens in the mean time, 10 chapters! There is a lot of teaching and miracles as Jesus works His way south. This is even when he sends out 72 disciples to go into the villages ahead of them and proclaim that Christ is coming. The Bible doesn’t give us a time line for these events, and the gospel writers notoriously don’t record events in timeline fashion like we in the western world would do, however, it seems obvious that this journey took some time as Christ entered villages and proclaimed the good news of the kingdom and did miracles and taught his disciples along the way. As he draws near to Jerusalem there seems to be some commuting back and forth in the area and we have well known stories like that of Zacheus in Jericho and Jesus being anointed by Mary in the home of Lazarus at Bethany.

All of these events build the anticipation and we need to see this. As Jesus draws closer to Jerusalem and His ministry is rising to a crescendo, we see these large crowds following Him, especially as people are pouring into the city for the passover celebration. All of this forms the backdrop agains which we begin the story now in Luke:

English Standard Version Chapter 19

29 When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’ ”

As best as we can tell Jesus, on this day, was in Jericho and he leaves Jericho which is about 15 miles from Bethany and Bethphage and heads toward Jerusalem for the final time. He has covered quite a distance and as He gets close to these towns on the Mount of Olives that seem to function as His home base while He is in the Jerusalem area, the same area where Lazarus was from and perhaps where he stayed, when he was getting near these towns he sends a couple of his disciples on ahead to carry out this first task of His triumphal entry, to procure the transportation.

Now John seems to imply that the crowd was already building and perhaps even already waiving palm branches.

These disciples were to find a colt or a young donkey that was tied, presumably outside of its owners home. Jesus tells them to untie it and bring it to Him. He also gives them instructions for what to say if someone asks what they are doing.

This is a situation that is not unlikely to happen. As we said earlier there are more than just 12 disciples, more than just Jesus inner circle with Him. There have been 72 disciples sent out and that have returned and a large crowd is with Him. Even if this was the home of Lazarus which we aren't told, I am not saying that it was, but even if it was it is likely that these aren't a couple of the 12 but two of the others who had been following and learning form Jesus and so they need to be told what to say because they were likely unknown to those in the town.

Now folks like to wonder about wether this is a miraculous event in which Jesus uses His divine foreknowledge to know that this young donkey is going to be here or wether he had this prearranged. The text honestly doesn't tell us but it also doesn't treat this as a miraculous event which seems to indicate that in the back and forth that had been taking place between these near jerusalem locations that Jesus had arranged to have the colt made ready for Him on this day.

And so we see the men are indeed questioned and when they reply as Jesus had instructed them they are given the use of the colt.

English Standard Version Chapter 19

32 So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them. 33 And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” 35 And they brought it to Jesus

The Colt

Now we need to consider Jesus’ particular choice to enter into the city on a donkey’s colt.

Because we have already been there in Zechariah we know that the primary reason for this choice is that it is a clear fulfilment of that prophecy, that Jesus is clearly stating that He is Israel’s Messiah.

If we turn to the gospel of John chapter 12 we read starting in verse 14:

English Standard Version Chapter 12

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!”

It is interesting that Matthew and John both make this connection while Luke and Mark do not. Central to the message of Matthew is that Jesus is the Son of David the Messianic King and so it makes sense that Matthew makes this connection and John is concerned with showing us that Jesus is the divine Son of God and so this connection also fits well with His aim.

As we consider the quote, one of the hermeneutical tools that we must keep in mind when studying the Scriptures is that when an author quotes a portion of a verse or a prophecy quite often if not always they intend that the reader/hearer will read back into their quotation all of the prophecy from which the quote was drawn not just the specific words quoted. And so while John and Matthew only cite a small portion of this text from Zechariah 9 they intend that those who hear their words understand that Jesus is the fulfillment of that entire prophecy.

This is what I love about John’s gospel in particular. Notice what John says immediately after this quote:

English Standard Version Chapter 12

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. 17

Notice that, the disciples didn't understand these things, they didn't make the connection. It was only when Jesus had risen from the dead that they fully understood the import of all of the things that they had experienced. In other words John’s insertion of “Just as it is written” is an after the fact thing.

Now this is a little hard because obviously the crowd and the disciples who laid their coats and the palm branches in front of Jesus were making a Messianic point. They understood that this was a Messianic moment. However, it is clear that no one there with the exception of Christ Himself fully understood what He was doing or how all of these events would tie together to bring the history of redemption to its most crucial moment.

It seems best to me then to understand this as it not being until after the resurrection and glorification of Christ that the disciples truly understood just what it was that Christ had come to do and how the prophecy of Zechariah 9 would be fulfilled.

English Standard Version Chapter 9

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.

10  I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim

and the war horse from Jerusalem;

and the battle bow shall be cut off,

and he shall speak peace to the nations;

his rule shall be from sea to sea,

and from the River to the ends of the earth.

11  As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you,

I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.

12  Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;

today I declare that I will restore to you double.

Zechariah 9 shows us a king entering triumphantly into the city a king who comes with righteousness (9:9)and humility, bringing salvation (9:9) for His people. He is a King who is going to bring peace (9:10) and He is going to set them free from their bondage through the blood of His covenant with them (9:11).

It was the resurrection of Christ that showed His disciples the nature of the salvation and righteousness, the peace, and the covenant that Christ had come to bring.

Yes, upon His triumphal entry they knew that a King had come but it was not until after the events of the passover week that they understood the true magnificence of this King and the Kingdom that He had come to open to them. And so it is in writing this text and citing this prophecy that John both shows us how woefully they missed the magnitude of the moment and yet shows us still in hindsight how magnificent the moment was. The long promised Messianic king had come and he was bringing with Him all of the wonderful fulfillments of this and all of the other Messianic prophecies that we read in the OT.

This is the significance of Christ selecting this colt to enter into Jerusalem. This prophecy in Zechariah is one of the last of the Messianic prophecies and as such when Christ chose to ride this colt into Jerusalem He was not only saying that He was Zechariah’s coming King fulfiling just this one prophecy but that He was the fulfilment of every single Messianic prophecy in the Old Testament!

Coats and Branches

Again, the crowd and the disciples clearly did not make all these connections however they still on the surface level realized that Jesus entering into Jerusalem was a significant moment. This is why Luke continues:

English Standard Version Chapter 19

and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. 37 As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, 38 saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

We see the disciples prepare the colt for Jesus to ride and as He gets on and begins the journey to Jerusalem the disciples and the crowd that was with Him spread their cloaks on the ground before Him. Luke does not tell us about the palm branches but the other three do, These branches were waived and laid on the road as a way to honor the one who was entering the city.

We read in John 12:13

John 12:13 ESV

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!”

There are two points that I would like for us to focus on in this area of the story.

Surprising Nature of the Event

The first point is the surprising nature of the triumphal entry. Now again, keep in mind that triumphal entry is not in the text. That is just what it has come to be called. Never the less you can see why it is called this.

We have no true indicators for the size of the crowd but by all measures it was large. As we said earlier, this had been prepared. Disciples had gone out and proclaimed Christ, he had journeyed across the country teaching and performing miracles. Many of these people had likely followed him up to the feast and undoubtedly not a small number of them were from the area where Lazarus lived, Jesus’ home base near Jerusalem and so this great crowd covers the streets in honor and praise and celebrates the arrival of their king into their capital city.

This in other words is a very public event.

Now if you have spent much time at all in the gospels that might and should come as a great surprise to you. If anything Jesus seemed to do everything that He could to remain obscure. He often warned people not to tell of His miracles. He labored in the remotest parts of the nations. He maintained a small group of close followers. Yes, he taught thousands and drew large crowds but we never see Him intentionally doing so. And yet here it seems that the aim was a large crowd. The aim was that all of Jerusalem knew that their King had arrived. Jesus didn't sneak into the feast coming up after his family as He had done before. Jesus publically rides his donkey down the main street and into Jerusalem on the side that faces the opening of the temple and he does so to great fan fair and the praise of the people.

What exactly is going on here? Why the seeming shift in strategy?

JC Ryle says it well in his commentary on Mark:

Expository Thoughts on Mark Mark 11:1–11: Christ’s Public Entry into Jerusalem, and Voluntary Poverty

Let us observe, in the first place, how public our Lord purposely made the last act of His life. He came to Jerusalem to die, and He desired that all Jerusalem should know it. When He taught the deep things of the Spirit, He often spoke to none but His apostles. When He delivered His parables, He often addressed none but a multitude of poor and ignorant Galileans. When He worked His miracles, He was generally at Capernaum, or in the land of Zebulon and Napthali. But when the time came that He should die, He made a public entry into Jerusalem. He drew the attention of rulers, and priests, and elders, and Scribes, and Greeks, and Romans to Himself. He knew that the most wonderful event that ever happened in this world, was about to take place. The eternal Son of God was about to suffer in the stead of sinful men,—the great sacrifice for sin about to be offered up,—the great Passover Lamb about to be slain,—the great atonement for a world’s sin about to be made. He therefore ordered it so that His death was eminently a public death. He over-ruled things in such a way that the eyes of all Jerusalem were fixed upon Him, and when He died, He died before many witnesses.

We see the public nature of this in the story of the men on the road to Emmaus after Jesus rose from the dead. Remember what the men said to Jesus in Luke 24:

English Standard Version Chapter 24

18 Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”

Clearly the crucifixion of Christ was a very public event. The religious leaders had done everything they could to take him in secret, conspiring to take him at night away from the view of the people and yet they could not keep this event silent and that all stems back to the very public entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem here on this day.

The People’s Praise

Now we also need to consider not only the very public nature of the event but also the praises of the people. The public nature of the event served to maximize these praises and we will see thi smoirning that this is precisely the point, the praise due to the coming King.

Now, there are several significant phrases that the people quote as they are shouting Christ’s praises and they are far more significant than any of the people could have realized.

Lets see their praise from all of the gospels:

Matthew 21:9 ESV

And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

Mark 11:9–10 ESV

And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”

Luke 19:37–38 ESV

As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

John 12:13 ESV

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!”

So we see here a few consistent themes:

We have Hosanna

Son of David

Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord

We also see in several the idea of kingship and peace.

Now the phrase “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” is drawn from Psalm 118 verse 26. This is a Psalm of deliverance and one commentator notes that these words would be used to greet pilgrims coming to Jerusalem. However when we take a look at the direct context of these words in the Psalm we see some striking connections that again, I doubt the people got but Christ certainly would have. We read in the Psalm

Psalm 118:19–27 ESV

Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it. I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord. The Lord is God, and he has made his light to shine upon us. Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, up to the horns of the altar!

Open the gates a fitting entrance Psalm. These are the gates of righteousness and the Psalmist definitely viewed the city as the righteous city and a place blessed of the Lord and yet now we find that the gates are open and it is a righteous one (Zechariah) who rides through them, “the righteous one shall enter through it.”

We see God’s salvation but then we see the familiar note about the stone that the builders rejected becoming the chief corner stone. Jesus clearly relates this text to himself just a short time after the triumphal entry as the religious leaders question him about His divine authority when He told the parable of the wicked tenants which clearly foretold that the religious leaders would take His life as the Son sent by the King. Just as the people praise had proclaimed so also Jesus claims this Psalm for himself in his rebuke of the religious leaders.

We see there at the end of these verse the note about God causing a light to shine upon them which connects to Jesus as the light of the world and the prophecy of His birth that a light had dawned on the land of those living in darkness.

The lastly we see the festal sacrifice bound to the horns of the alter. This would have been why this Psalm was use to greet those who had come to worship in Jerusalem and yet none of these people would have known that in a few short days this Messianic King would himself become that festal sacrifice and that through His sacrifice He would provide for the salvation and cleansing of all of God’s people!

This refrain from Psalm 118 then is a fitting shout of praise to ring out int he streets as Zechariah’s King enters the city!

Hosanna

We also see the most well known of the phrases. Hosanna. This is also a word from Psalm 118. Benjamin Shaw writing for Ligonier Ministries says this of the word: It is most likely an English transliteration of a Greek adaptation and transliteration of an Aramaic version of a Hebrew exclamation found in Psalm 118:25. Incidentally Luke doesn't include it as he seems to have an aversion to Aramaic words. It is a word that means “Save now.”

Now the vast majority of the people who shouted this as Jesus entered Jerusalem undoubtedly hoped for a salvation from Roman occupation and oppression and the freedom for Israel to be a nation again. This is why they add the chants about David and Christ’s kingship. Even as He rode in on a donkey they never the less viewed him as a coming conquring king.

Now their words weren't wrong. In actuality they could not have realized just how right their words were! Christ had indeed come to Jerusalem to save His people now. In just a few short days He would be take into custody and then nailed to a cross and in His death He would open wide a door of salvation through His blood that would bring about all of the longed for hopes of the Old Covenant and even the promises that predated the Covenant with Sainai tracing back through Abrahan, Noah and even the promise to Eve that her seed would one day crush the head of the serpant!

Jesus entered Jerusalem as a savior, not just a savior of the Jews but a savior of the world!

Palm Branches

Now just a note about the palm branches. Palm branches had a long history of use in Israels feast days. Palm branches were a part of the booths that would have been constructed for the feast of tabernacles. However, Palm branches gained a new use in Israel during the intertestamental period as the family of the Maccabaeus helped to deliver the people from Greek oppression. When for a time under Simon Maccabaeus the Greeks were driven from Jerusalem altogether the Jews threw a parade and celebrated the victory by waiving palm branches and from that point forward they became a symbol for the Jews of deliverance. This is likely why they were waived for Christ’s entrance to Jerusalem. It again highlights their hope that Christ would deliver them from their oppression.

Crying Stones

Now as we draw to a close for this morning I want us to see one last aspect of Luke’s record of these events.

Here in the midst of all this joy and celebration we find that some Pharisees have made it into the crowd and they are quick to call Jesus to rebuke His disciples:

Luke 19:39–40 ESV

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

We may be tempted to think of this a bit too literally. While, yes, God could have caused the very stones to cry out in praise for His Son, this is not really the point that Christ is making. This is the culmination of Christs entrance into Jerusalem. The large crowd of His followers is gathered around and has welcomed Him as their King, even if they don’t yet have the correct perspective on His Kingship or His Kingdom they still, through God’s providence in long providing them the words for their praises in the Psalms and foretelling this moment through His prophets, are standing there pouring out praise for their King, the Messiah who has come.

The point is that God loves when His people praise Him and God is pleased with the praises that His people are lavishing on His Son. This is a moment that befits praise, the King has come, the moment is prepared and the culmination of redemptive History is on its way, the Son will shortly give His life a ransom for many and bear in His body the iniquities of His people as their sacrificial lamb. Passover is on its way and soon through the death of the Son, God will rightly be, as Paul tells us, both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Him. Just because the sin is punished and justified because as Christ bore our sins on the cross so we are enabled to bear His righteousness before God’s judgement seat.

This is the moment that all of History has been waiting for and it is a moment so befitting of praise that no effort of man would be able to stop praise from issuing forth!

This is the point! Praise is fitting for the revealed savior of the world!

It is here that we must draw our final and most important point of application. We enter into this Easter week, as we remember what it is that Christ has done for us, we stand in a position of blessed knowing. What they could only see through a glass dimly we see with a far greater and blessed clarity! We see Christ, we see the cross, we see the King and we stand today by faith as citizens of the Kingdom, men and women purchased by the blood of Christ, members of that great host of people from every tribe and tongue and nation and it is fitting that we take time to remember and to cry out in praise to our God and savior.

We pour our hearts out in praise because if we did not, yes even today, if we did not praise would issue forth, even if the stones must sing the praises of our savior will ring across the land.