Palm Sunday Message
Good Morning
This Sunday in the Church is referred to as Palm Sunday. It marks the beginning of Holy Week – the seven days before we celebrate Resurrection Sunday.
If we were to go back 2000 years and place ourselves on the road to Jerusalem we would probably be swept away by the excitement of what happened that day. We would be among of group of Jews making their way to the city to celebrate the feasts of Passover and unleaven bread.
Jesus and his disciples are traveling on foot. They had come from Bethany where Lazarus, Martha & Mary lived. Also in that town was a man named Simon whom Jesus had healed of leprosy. Simon threw a party to honor Jesus. Mary & Martha were helping to serve dinner. It was at this party that Mary washed Jesus’ feet with her tears, dried them with her hair, and anointed him with a cast of expensive perfume. You know the story, Judas got all uppity and blasted her for the extravagance.
Now, in order to get the full picture, we’ll need to bounce around in the Gospels. They all tell the same story, but because each of the Gospels was written to a different audience, one writer may include a detail that another might not.
For instance, we know that
Ø Matthew was written for the Jews, primarily to show that Jesus is Messiah. So Matthew often quotes the Old Testament.
Ø Mark was written to persecuted Christians in Rome, it wouldn’t be important for them to know what the Old Testament said. Mark wanted them to be able to identify their suffering with what Jesus suffered.
Ø Luke was a doctor who traveled with Paul, he had an analytical minds and recorded the gospel much like a historian. He was writing to gentiles and wouldn’t include quotes from the Old Testament either.
Ø Now John was also a Jew, and like Matthew, he was there when this all happened. But he wrote his gospel late in life and recorded his experiences as an old man looking back on life. His gospel is filled with emotion and reflection.
Turn to Matthew 21:1-5
1 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me.
It was a practice in that day to keep a colt that hadn’t been ridden with its mother. The mother would have been domesticated, you could lead her easily, but the colt was another matter. But if you brought mama along, you could lead her and the colt would follow. That’s why Jesus said bring them both.
3 If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
One of those little facts that John records that Matthew doesn’t is that a whole lot of people knew that Jesus was coming, in fact many had traveled with him. So it is not unreasonable for us to assume that the disciples may have thought the people in Bethphage would know who Jesus was and would be happy to do him this service.
The next 2 verses would only be important to Jews and that’s why Matthew includes them.
4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
5 “Say to the Daughter of Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”
How does Matthew address his audience? Daughter of Zion, the children of God.
Verse 5 is actually a paraphrase of Zechariah 9:9 (turn there real quick).
9 Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
In ancient cultures when a king rode a horse, it symbolized war. When he rode a donkey, it symbolized peace.
Now flip over to Mark and we’ll pick up the story in 11:4.
4 They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, 5 some people standing there asked, “What are you doing, untying that colt?”
Remember Mark wrote to persecuted Christians, they could identify with someone confiscating their property.
6 They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go.
7 When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it.
8 Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields.
Why would they do that? Spreading your garments on the street was an ancient act of reverence reserved for high royalty. Remember he came riding a donkey and we learned in Zachariah that Israel’s Kings come riding on a donkey. So they were paving the way so to speak for their king to enter Jerusalem.
Side note: Scholars tell us these are palm branches – from where we get “Palm Sunday”. (picture)
Now flip over to Luke 19 and remember I told you earlier Luke was a detail man,
37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
The rest of the gospel writers say,
“and those who went before him cried out.”
Go back to Matthew 21:9
9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
“Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest!”
The Hebrew word is “Hosanna”, translated literally is “O save!” or “Save now!” we might say, “save us!”
Son of David is a Messianic name. Were they acknowledging Jesus as Messiah?
You will remember that Jerusalem was crowded at this time with pilgrims who had come for Passover during the observances they would have recited a prayer called the Hallel, which includes verses from Psalms 113-118. Take a quick trip over to Psalm 118:25-26
25 O Lord, save us; O Lord, grant us success. 26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. From the house of the Lord we bless you.
Look familiar?
Pay attention to this next verse and store the answer for a minute.
10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?” 11 The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Go back to Luke 19:39 and we’ll add another detail to the story. While the crowds are yelling Hosanna,
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
Were they trying to shush up the crowd because they were coming into the city with its Roman guards? Or were they just afraid of being identified with Jesus’ followers by the Sanhedrin?
John also adds a detail at this point. You don’t need to go there now, John 12:19 says,
19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”
Shows us where the hearts of the Pharisees are.
Moving on, only Luke records the next event. Luke 19:41-44
41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.
Remember I asked you to store an answer earlier? Matthew 21:
10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?” 11 The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Notice they didn’t say, “this is our king”, they said “it’s the prophet”. No wonder he wept. Jesus knew the superficiality of their hearts. They wanted Messiah to come, they got swept up in the excitement, but really didn’t believe Jesus was the one.
This make me think of how often Christians get hold of one of the promises of God, or a word from a prophet and want to believe it, but give up or worse settle for something less than God’s best. Parents you know how this feels, we want your children to make good choices. We don’t want to see them suffer. We want to fix things for them, if they would only let us. That’s probably how helpless Jesus felt.
Continuing Luke 19:42
43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side.
This is what happened when Jerusalem fell in AD 70. Roman troops surrounded the city on Apr. 9, cut off all supplies trapping thousands of people who had been in Jerusalem for the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread. The Romans built embankments around the city and gradually starved the people. This siege lasted throughout the summer ending in September.
44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”
The Romans utterly demolished the city, temple, residences, and people. Men, women, and children were brutally slaughtered by the tens of thousands. The few survivors were carried off to become victims of the Roman circus games and gladiator matches.
Back to Matthew 21:12
12 Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves.
This was the second time Jesus had cleansed the temple. The first time (John 2:14–16) it was at the beginning of his ministry. The first time his anger was directed at the temple officials, they had let God’s temple become a common market. This time his anger was directed at the merchants and customers. The temple officials who had challenged him the first time, kept silent now.
His focus turns to the money changers. The people used Roman coins to buy thing outside the temple. Inside the temple they used temple coins. Money changers set up shop in the temple courts and charged fees to make the exchange.
13 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a ‘den of robbers.’”
Again Matthew quotes the Old Testament”
Is. 56:7 “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations”
and Jer. 7:11 “Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of thieves in your eyes?”.
With the offenders gone, Jesus does what he always does in the temple. Continuing in Matthew 21:
14 The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.
The children spoke of her are 12-year old boys who had just celebrated bar mitzvah and their first Passover.
16 “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him. “Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read, “‘From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise’?”
Are we surprised to see Matthew cite Jesus quote the Old Testament?
17 And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.
You’re probably thinking, “good teaching, I never looked at it that way. Next time I read that passage, I’ll think about what you said.”
Right?
Wrong. This passage is not just a story.
It’s a wake-up call for the church.
OK Lisa, how do you get that?
Jesus and his disciples along with about 700 of his followers are heading to the temple in Jerusalem to observe Passover. Along the way, the glory of God is revealed, the people wave palm branches and shout Hosanna.
When the people reach Jerusalem someone asks who are the people talking about, and the people reply, oh that’s just a prophet.
Pastor Wanda and about 16 of her church members come to Ekklesia to observe Palm Sunday. The attend Sunday School, have an awesome time in Praise & Worship, wave flags, and the glory falls.
When we leave this place and some one asks, how was church? How many of us respond “it was good” or “ok”? And how many of us respond, “it was amazing, the presence of the Lord filled the place. Pastor preached a message that stirred something inside of me, and I know that I will never be the same again”?
We know that Jesus wept over Jerusalem. Don’t you think we’ve given him cause to weep over his church? Are we leading double lives?
When someone says, How are you?
Do we respond, “blessed and highly favored” and mean it? Are we one person at church and another at home? Or at the office? Or when we think no one is watching?
Do we have idols? Anything that consumes your time or thoughts more than God is an idol.
Do we harbor jealousy?
Do we hold grudges?
Are we prone to fits of rage? Do we speak hateful things in anger?
Do we know where the fine line between competition and selfish ambition lies?
Galatians 5 warns, these things will keep us from inheriting the Kingdom of God. You can’t bribe your way into heaven.
God wants 100% of your life. Its not enough for you to come to church on Sunday and/or prayer on Wednesday and live the rest of the week without thinking about who is, or thanking him for what he’s done, or meditating on his word.
Your first conversation of the day should be with him.
Your last conversation of the day should be with him.
You should check in with him, before you leave the house, before you get in the car, before you walk into work,
before you pick up the phone. He goes before us, his is our rear-guard, he walks beside us.
We know this. Why then don’t we commit our entire lives to him. What benefit is there from holding back on God? None.
Now you may be thinking, I’m not that bad. I love God, I’m doing the best I can, and besides God’s grace has me covered. Well, yes and no. God’s grace is available to everyone, but grace does not excuse unconfessed sin.
Grace does not override the conviction of the Holy Spirit. There is no justification for sin. Grace does not shield pride or offence. Grace does not replace confession, prayer, repentance, or the will of God.
I’ll say it again, God wants 100% of you. God wants 100% of me, of Pastor, of Peter, of Donna. None of us are there yet. As pastor is so fond of saying, if we were we would have been raptured. The call of Palm Sunday is one to repentance.
Father, forgive us for not responding when you call.
Forgive us for wanting our own way. Forgive us for forgetting who you are, and why you saved us.
Lord we confess our selfishness and turn our hearts back to you. This week –this holy week we will remember what Jesus did for us – how he came as our Messiah and paid the ultimate price to save us. Father, we commit our lives to you this day. In Jesus name, Amen