Laying Your Palms Down

Title: Lay Your Palms Down

Subtitle: When Praise Becomes Surrender

Scripture Reading: John 12:12-19

Introduction

Resurrection Week:

Today we begin our Resurrection week. The most sacred week in all of Christianity. This week we will experience the movement of our Savior as he triumphs over the grave.

Today: Triumphal Entry of Christ As He is welcomed as King.

Friday: Triumph over sin on The Cross, “The Cross Redeems it All.”

Saturday: The Triumph in the Grave, “The Grave Proclaims it All.”

Sunday Sunrise: The Triumphal Resurrection, “The Empty Tomb Seals it All.”

Sunday Morning: The Triumph of the Living Christ, “The Stone was Rolled Away”

We will walk together in the Spirit as He guides us through the redemptive work of our Lord.

Now is the time to invite your 3 friends to come with you on Resurrection Sunday. One invitation could change a life forever.

Palm Sunday is the moment Jesus entered Jerusalem as King—welcomed with praise by a crowd shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” (John 12:13, ESV)—yet many did not fully understand who He was.

Before we even get to Palm Sunday, let me ask you something honestly:

Have you ever been sure God was moving in a certain direction only to watch it unfold in a completely different way?

You stepped out in faith trusting what you believed He was doing, but things didn’t turn out the way you expected.

And if you’re honest, something shifted in you.

Maybe not outwardly, but something in your heart pulled back.

Because it’s possible to be sincere about Jesus and still be wrong about what He’s doing.

John 12:13 ESV

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!”

Lets get a feel for what was happening that Palm Sunday. I want you to say that phrase 3 times while waving your palm branches to the Lord.

“Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord”

This is a moment full of energy and expectation, but it didn’t start here.

Palm branches were used when God’s people celebrated His presence and remembered His faithfulness. They were reaching for a moment when God would deliver them from the Roman Oppression and establish His kingdom once again.

So when the crowd waved palms at Jesus, they believed that moment had arrived.

And they were right, but they misunderstood what it would look like.

And that’s where this becomes personal.

Because the same voices that shouted “Hosanna” would shout “Crucify Him” a few days later.

Do we praise Jesus when we think we know what He’s doing only to curse him when it doesn’t turn out the way we thought?

That’s Palm Sunday.

A crowd celebrating Jesus as long as He fit their expectations.

Phrase of the Day: “True praise leads to full surrender.”

Roadmap

Today we are going to visit the 3 mistakes that crowd made that moved them from worshipers to crucifiers.

🌿 They Saw the Right King—but Through the Wrong Lens

🎭 They Expressed Praise—but Withheld Surrender

👑 They Wanted Salvation—But Not Lordship

Sermon Outline

🌿 They Saw the Right King—but Through the Wrong Lens

The Triumphal Entry was the only time Jesus publicly displayed of his Kingship. His time had come and prophesy would be fulfilled.

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.

Jesus enters exactly as Scripture promised. There is no doubt about the proclamation. He is the King.

But the crowd is interpreting the moment through their own expectations.

They are looking for a conquering King that would bring relief from the Romans.

But Jesus had a broader scope in view. He came as the conquering King over death and the grave.

After the resurrection Jesus appears to two men on the Road to Emmaus that give us insight into this expectation.

Luke 24:19–21 ESV

19 And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened.

That statement carries disappointment.

Not because Jesus failed—but because their understanding was incomplete.

Illustration:

In John 6, after Jesus feeds thousands, the crowd tries to make Him king. But when He begins to speak about deeper surrender, many walk away.

John 6:14–15 ESV

14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” 15 Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

John 6:41–42 ESV

41 So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

John 6:52–53 ESV

52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.

John 6:66 ESV

66 After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.

Application:

We can approach Jesus the same way.

We celebrate Him when life aligns with what we hoped He would do.

But following Him means trusting Him even when we don’t understand His direction.

True praise begins when we stop redefining Jesus and start receiving Him as He is.

👉 The mind shift: Let your faith be anchored in His character, not your outcomes.

👉 Church Mission: We call people to follow the real Jesus—not a version shaped by preference.

🎭 They Expressed Praise—but Withheld Surrender

They praised with selfish motives.

People have always struggled with about 18 inches: From the head to the heart.

Isaiah 29:13 ESV

13 And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,

People will say anything.

People do what’s in their heart.

They were engaged but not surrendered.

This is my fear of modern Christianity. We draw close to the Lord in our gatherings but our hearts remain distant.

Days later, the tone shifts dramatically.

Luke 23:21 ESV

21 but they kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!”

Illustration:

In 2015, a group of 21 Egyptian Christians were captured by ISIS in Libya. They were ordinary men—laborers, many of them.

A video was released showing them lined up on a beach, dressed in orange, moments before they were beheaded.

What stood out wasn’t just their courage—but their confession.

As they faced death, several of them were heard saying the name of Jesus.

Not in a church service, But in the moment where it cost them everything.

They didn’t just praise Jesus publicly but surrendered to him completely, even unto death.

And yet, it’s possible in more comfortable settings to participate in worship without ever yielding control. To lift our voices in praise and guard our hearts from surrender.

Application:

You can be present in worship and still guarded in your heart.

You can honor Jesus with your words and still resist Him in your life.

True praise moves beyond expression—it leads to surrender.

👉 Personal Discipleship: Does your praise match your passion for Christ?

👉 Church Mission: We are forming people who follow Jesus with their whole lives, not just their voices.

👑 They Wanted Salvation—But Not Lordship

John 12:13 ESV

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!”

“Hosanna” means “save us now.”

It’s a cry for help—but also a statement of expectation.

They wanted salvation that made sense to them.

But Jesus was offering something deeper, something that required trust.

People will cry to God today “Save us now.”

Save me from my sinful ways.

Save me from the pit that I have created.

Save me from my situation at home and in the work place.

Save me from my financial struggles.

Save me from my bad relationships.

But very few are saying let me die so that I might live. They are not willing to repent and surrender to the Savior.

Are we ready to follow Jesus to the cross because that is where salvation begins.

Galatians 2:20 ESV

20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

You want “Hosanna” it comes with Surrender.

Luke 9:23 ESV

23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

Illustration (White Flag)

On a battlefield, there’s a universal signal. When someone raises a white flag, it means one thing:

They’re done fighting.

They’re surrendering.

And in that moment, everything changes.

The one who was an enemy now comes under the authority of the one they were fighting against.

And instead of being destroyed they’re spared.

That’s the picture of what it means to shout “Hosanna” to Jesus.

We don’t come negotiating.

We don’t come halfway.

We come surrendering.

The Power of the Gospel

When you surrender to Jesus, you’re not just spared—

You’re forgiven.

You’re restored.

You’re brought in.

Because the King you surrender to is the same King who went to the cross save you.

The Lordship of Christ is not determined by your surrender.

Philippians 2:10–11 ESV

10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Everyone will bow.

The only question is when.

The Palm Branches in Heaven

There is another time that palm branches are presented before the Lord.

Revelation 7:9–10 ESV

9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

There is no confusion of the King.

He is the king of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Application

Some of us are still trying to follow Jesus without fully surrendering to Him.

Still holding control in certain areas.

But surrender doesn’t work that way.

Surrender to Jesus isn’t losing—it’s shouting “Hosanna” to the only King who can truly save you.

True praise acknowledges not only that Jesus saves—but that He reigns.

🔥 Turning Point

There’s a difference between what the crowd did—and what Jesus is calling us to.

It’s one thing to wave palms in celebration—

it’s another thing to lay them down in surrender.

And this is where everything shifts:

True praise leads to full surrender.

Conclusion

So here we are. Palm Sunday began with people waving branches and shouting “Hosanna,” celebrating Jesus as King—and it looked like worship. But when Jesus didn’t meet their expectations, their praise didn’t hold.

And if we’re honest, that’s not just their story—it’s ours. We can be passionate when we think we understand what God is doing, but what happens when He doesn’t do what we expected? When the path is different, or harder than we hoped?

That’s where Palm Sunday becomes personal, because the issue was never that the crowd didn’t recognize Jesus—it’s that they had not surrendered to Him.

So the question isn’t whether Jesus is Lord. The question is when will you surrender to Him. Will you keep praising Him only when it makes sense, or will you trust Him when it doesn’t? Will you keep waving palms, or will you finally lay them down? Because true praise leads to full surrender.

Next Steps (C = DxVxF)

Dissatisfaction: Where has your expectation of Jesus created distance instead of trust?

Vision: What would it look like to surrender to Him fully—even in the areas that feel unclear?

First Step: Bring one area of hesitation before God this week—and consciously surrender it to Him.

Gospel Invitation / Altar Call

This morning, when you walked in, you were handed a palm branch. And a few moments ago, it was easy for all of us to lift those branches and praise Jesus. It didn’t cost us anything. There was no risk, no sacrifice—just a moment of celebration. But Palm Sunday confronts us with something deeper than celebration. It asks us a question: not just will you wave a palm, but will you lay it down?

Because it’s one thing to praise Jesus when it’s easy. It’s another thing to surrender to Him when it costs you something. Some of us have been waving palms—honoring Him with our words, showing up, going through the motions—but still holding onto control in our lives. Still deciding what we’ll give Him and what we won’t.

So here’s what I want to invite you to do. If you’re ready to move from praise to surrender, from admiration to allegiance, I want you to physically respond. In just a moment, I’m going to invite you to come forward and lay your palm branch down at the front—at the feet of Jesus—as a sign that you’re not just celebrating Him as King, but surrendering to Him as Lord.

Maybe for some of you, that means trusting Jesus for the first time—laying your life down and receiving the salvation He offers. For others, it means surrendering an area you’ve been holding back—your plans, your control, your expectations.

No one can make that decision for you. But you know where you stand.

So if you’re ready, don’t just wave your palm—come lay it down.

Because true praise leads to full surrender.