A Day of Applause Message

Palm Sunday

A Day of Applause

Luke 19:28-44

Some one once described Palm Sunday “As a day of temporary triumph and at worst the fickle  nature of ordinary  people.  

Palm Sunday a Day of Applause

1.  The annual Jewish festival brought over a town from about 50,00- to over 100,00

Jesus entered Jerusalem in a way that would focus the whole city on his arrival.

He secured a beast of burden

          A. Donkey

A Symbol of  peace.

Ann Weems, in her wonderful little book, Kneeling in Jerusalem, …”It's between parades that we don't do so well. We don't do so well from  Sunday to Sunday. For we forget our hosannas between parades.

What can we Say about His arrival which would prepare us for the next moment?

I.                  His arrival was greeted  with great Joy

a.     Hosanna

                                                             i.      Lord Save Us

b.    The impossible became possible

                                                             i.      Blind Eyes were open

                                                          ii.      Legs were extended

                                                       iii.      Lame ones were straight

                                                       iv.      Those confined to pallets were confined no longer.

c.     Hope began to be experienced again.

d.    When we see him work today, a miracle is heard we still get excited!

II.              His arrival betrayed  others attitude

a.     “ vox populi  “ voice of the people”

b.    Fickle voice

c.     “Today’s hero is tomorrow’s goat”

d.    The crowd is always asking “ What have you done for me today”?

e.     The same ones who greeted him on Sunday, wanted to see him dead on Friday.

                                                             i.      Religious People

Wilbur Reese once wrote “    I would like to buy three dollars worth of God, please. Not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough of Him to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I don't want enough of Him to make me love  my neighbor or stoop to help someone in need. I want ecstasy, not

 transformation. I want the warmth of the womb, not a new

 birth. I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack,

 please. I would like to buy three dollars worth of God,  please.

1.     

III.          His arrival was accompanied by Sorrows

                                                             i.      Not everyone understood Jesus

1.    Why did He weep, He wept because He knew th condition of their heart,

a.     Betrayal

b.    Hurt

2.    He wept because He saw Jerusalem as a place of lost opportunity

3.    He wept because His closest friends misunderstood his coming.  

4.    He wept because He realized the emptiness of their lives.



They did not understand the purpose of His coming.

b.    People are unreasonable, illogical and self centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.Do good anyway.

c.     If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

People really need help, but may attach you if you help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you've got,
and you might get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you've got anyway

IV.          His arrival elicits a Response.

                                                             i.      Palm Branches

                                                          ii.      Parade

                                                       iii.      “Rocks will cry out.”

                                                       iv.      The ministry is not ours; it is His. It is not accomplished by human effort, but by divine effort.