From Palms to the Cross

Opening Text: The Triumphal Entry 

Matthew 21:8–9 (ESV)  “Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 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!’” 

SET THE SEEN 

Can I be frank today church. Can you stick with me through this message? 

To start everytime I sat down to wright this message this week my heart began to burn and take flame. Everytime I had to walk away and pray because my human passion and anger took hold and I would get so frustrated because I don’t always know where to start. And there lies my answer SCRIPTURE, PRAYER RETREAT from the world into HIS presence. 

So If I get a little edge please just know its because as much as I want George to never struggle in life sometimes I let him until he breaks because I know thats when he grows. And I have that same love for you all. 

Set the Sermon View 

Start in the scripture (our zoomed in view)  

Look up to the crucifixion (our 10k foot view)  

Historical assessment and what we see (30k foot view)  

Back to present day: “Would I stand firm under pressure?” but even deeper— “Where am I already being shaped without realizing it?” and how do we help people recognize that without coming across as judgmental, but still being honest?  

Introduction: The Same Crowd 

On Palm Sunday, they shouted: 

“Hosanna!” 

Just days later, they shouted: 

“Crucify Him!” 

Luke 23:21 (ESV)  “But they kept shouting, ‘Crucify, crucify him!’” 

What happened? 

How does a crowd move from worship… to rejection… in a matter of days? 

And the deeper question: 

Could we do the same?  Or would I “stand firm under pressure?” 

Point 1: When Belief Is Built on Expectation Instead of Truth 

The crowd believed—but they believed in a version of Jesus they created. 

They expected a political king, not a suffering Savior. 

When Jesus didn’t meet their expectations, their belief collapsed. 

John 6:13–15 (ESV)  “So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, ‘This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!’ 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.” 

They forgot what Isaiah prophesied: 

Isaiah 53:1–5 (ESV)  “Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?  For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground;  he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.  He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;  and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.  Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;  yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.  But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities;  upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” 

They wanted a crown.  He came with a cross. 

Application 

If our faith is built on what we want Jesus to be—  the emotional high of a worship song or the present conviction during a sermon—  it will not stand when He reveals who He truly is. 

Point 2: We Are Not That Different From the Crowd 

Scripture warns us not to overestimate ourselves. 

Peter thought he would never deny Christ. 

Matthew 26:33–34 (ESV)  “Peter answered him, ‘Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.’” 

We don’t often deny Christ loudly… 

We deny Him quietly: 

Silence when truth should be spoken  

Compromise when conviction is costly  

Comfort over obedience  

Luke 9:23–27 (ESV)  “And he said to all, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.  For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.  For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?  For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.  But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.’” 

Point 3: Drift Happens Slowly, Not Suddenly 

The shift from Palm Sunday to the cross didn’t take years. 

It took days. 

Drift is subtle. 

Hebrews 2:1–3 (ESV)  “Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.  For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution,  how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard,” 

James 1:14–15 (ESV)  “But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.  Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” 

No one plans to fall away. 

It happens through: 

Small compromises  

Repeated neglect  

Gradual reshaping of priorities  

Point 4: What We Prioritize Forms Us 

Palm Sunday was a moment. 

But what shaped the crowd was everything leading up to it. 

Scripture makes this clear: 2 Timothy 4:3-5 NIV 

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. But as for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. 

Romans 12:2 (ESV)  “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” 

Point 5: Do Not Let History Repeat Itself 

We sit here today with something the crowd didn’t have. 

We see the whole picture. 

We see the palms…  We see the cross…  We see the empty tomb. 

They didn’t fully understand what was happening. 

But we do. 

So the question is not just: 

“Would I stand firm under pressure?” 

The deeper question is: 

“Where am I already being shaped without realizing it?” 

Because if we are not intentional…  we will drift into the same pattern. 

Cheering when it’s easy…  silent when it’s costly…  absent when it matters most. 

History does not repeat itself because people are evil. 

It repeats itself because people are unaware. 

Close  

You have a week until the Son of Man is crucified. 

What are you going to do? 

Go with the flow and not make any waves? 

Or 

Stand for the miracles you’ve seen Him do  and stand in the prophecy of Isaiah?