Passion Week

Today is Palm Sunday! this marks the beginning of Passion week or as some call it Holy week. Although there are many things that happened in this week leading up to the crucifixion, because of time we will only be able to talk about a few.

We find the story of Palm Sunday in all of the Gospel texts.

Day 1

(ESV)

The Triumphal Entry

21 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

5 “Say to the daughter of Zion,

‘Behold, your king is coming to you,

humble, and mounted on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’ ”

Verse 5 is taken from a combination of two different passages in the Old Testament. Matthew wanted the readers to know that this event was prophecy being fulfilled.

11 Behold, the Lord has proclaimed

to the end of the earth:

Say to the daughter of Zion,

“Behold, your salvation comes;

behold, his reward is with him,

and his recompense before him.”

(ESV)

The Coming King of Zion

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.

(ESV)

11 Behold, the Lord has proclaimed

to the end of the earth:

Say to the daughter of Zion,

“Behold, your salvation comes;

behold, his reward is with him,

and his recompense before him.”

The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. 8 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 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!”

Strong’s Bible Concordance

6057 ὡσαννά (hōsanna): Semitic; ≡ Str 5614; TDNT 9.682—LN 33.364 Hosanna!, formally, Save us, please!; it was an exclamation of praise, implying rulership (, ; , ; +)

But many of the people thought more of Jesus than Just a Prophet as they had shouted “Hosanna to the Son of David!

(ESV)

Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Greek (New Testament) (electronic ed.). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Greek (New Testament) (electronic ed.). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

(ESV)

His Steadfast Love Endures Forever

118 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

for his steadfast love endures forever!

2 Let Israel say,

“His steadfast love endures forever.”

3 Let the house of Aaron say,

“His steadfast love endures forever.”

4 Let those who fear the Lord say,

25 Save us, we pray, O Lord! (This word Save us means the same as Hosanna)

“His steadfast love endures forever.”

5 Out of my distress I called on the Lord;

the Lord answered me and set me free.

6 The Lord is on my side; I will not fear.

What can man do to me?

7 The Lord is on my side as my helper;

I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.

8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord

than to trust in man.

9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord

than to trust in princes.

10 All nations surrounded me;

in the name of the Lord I cut them off!

11 They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side;

in the name of the Lord I cut them off!

12 They surrounded me like bees;

they went out like a fire among thorns;

in the name of the Lord I cut them off!

O Lord, we pray, give us success!

13 I was pushed hard, so that I was falling,

but the Lord helped me.

14 The Lord is my strength and my song;

he has become my salvation.

15 Glad songs of salvation

are in the tents of the righteous:

“The right hand of the Lord does valiantly,

16 the right hand of the Lord exalts,

the right hand of the Lord does valiantly!”

17 I shall not die, but I shall live,

and recount the deeds of the Lord.

18 The Lord has disciplined me severely,

but he has not given me over to death.

19 Open to me the gates of righteousness,

that I may enter through them

and give thanks to the Lord.

20 This is the gate of the Lord;

26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

the righteous shall enter through it.

21 I thank you that you have answered me

and have become my salvation.

22 The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone.

23 This is the Lord’s doing;

it is marvelous in our eyes.

24 This is the day that the Lord has made;

let us rejoice and be glad in it.

25 Save us, we pray, O Lord!

O Lord, we pray, give us success!

26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

We bless you from the house of the Lord.

27 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!

We bless you from the house of the Lord.

28 You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;

you are my God; I will extol you.

29 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

for his steadfast love endures forever!

And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

The word “stirred” here is “eseisthe”. One commentary said that this is a mild interpretation to use the word “stirred”, because elsewhere in the Bible it is used of earthquakes and apocalyptic upheavals.

(ESV)

51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook (eseisthe), and the rocks were split.

(ESV)

13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale.

A better translation might be: When Jesus rode into Jerusalem the town was “wild with excitement” from the New English Bible NEB or “thrown into commotion” From the Weymouth Bible.

I picture the last presidential election, where some people are so excited in the outcome, but others are in complete uproar, but with so much more feeling or emotion going on.

Think about this— The people didn’t understand. If Jesus would have come into the city of Jerusalem and tossed out the Roman soldiers on there head and any one else that was against Him, they would have made Him king, and He would still be ruling right now with no one to challenge Him. Make no mistake, Jesus had that power and it would have been nothing for Him! In we see the Assyrian army encamped around Jerusalem, ready to destroy it and kill king Hezekiah, but he cries out to the LORD Yahweh and that night 185,000 are killed by the angel of the LORD. It was nothing for Him!

But this was not the plan of the Father for Jesus, He would come riding in to Jerusalem not on a war horse ready for battle, but on a donkey showing the humility of the king.

But this humble King would by no means let His and His Fathers house be defiled by the money-changers.

(ESV)

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

12 And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 13 He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”

14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, 16 and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read,

“ ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies

you have prepared praise’?”

17 And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there.

Even though the chief priests and scribes were indignant towards what Jesus was doing, the people were still crying out Hosanna to the Son of David! or Save us we pray, Son of David.

Jesus would answer this prayer to save many, but not how they were thinking.

Isn’t this true even today with God, we pray for things, and God many times will answer those prayers His way in taking care of us, sometimes by not even answering a prayer He is caring for us by not answering.

During this Holy week, we see Jesus’ authority challenged, we see Jesus pronounce the seven woes to the scribes and pharisees in ch. 23, We see Jesus foretelling the destruction of the temple and also the telling of end times in ch. 24. We see many parables given to the people.

Jesus was not a man that would walk on egg shells, because of fear of rejection. He didn’t care if He offended the pharisees or the people. He knew that it was what they needed. He loved them and wanted what was best for them, and that was the truth.

Remember Jesus cared! never forget this. He wept over Jerusalem.

(ESV)

Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem

41 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side 44 and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

You see even though Jesus loved the people, and He could have shown them the truth, He didn’t. There was a greater purpose going on. The pharisees and scribes eyes were darkened to see the truth because Jesus came to die on the cross, and the pharisees along with Pilate and Judas would be the instruments that God would use to accomplish this task.

We know that during this week, Judas, one of the twelve would betray the Lord for thirty pieces of silver.

(ESV)

Judas to Betray Jesus

14 Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. 16 And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him.

But this did not surprise Jesus. Remember The High Priestly Prayer in

(ESV)

12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

(ESV)

9 Even my close friend in whom I trusted,

who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.

The verse in is talking about Judas, and Jesus would have known this well.

And Judas on of Jesus closet friends would betray Him with a kiss.

(ESV)

Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus

47 While he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. 48 Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man; seize him.” 49 And he came up to Jesus at once and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” And he kissed him. 50 Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you came to do.” Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him.

But of course before this betrayal of a close friend, they would celebrate the passover, were Jesus the humble servant would remove his outer garment wrap a towel around him and wash his closet friends feet including the one that was about to deliver him over to the pharisees.

After Judas leaves to betray Jesus, Jesus gives them a new commandment

(ESV)

A New Commandment

31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. 33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

I have to ask, friends have you removed the outer garment of self righteousness and lowered yourself to serve? If you are a Christian in the Church of Jesus Christ, if you have been bought with Jesus precious blood, you are royalty and that is significant, but this is not a get out serving others card.

(ESV)

Jesus did

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Have you become a servant to all, or are you going down the road of, I am saved, but I don’t have time to love on someone right now. I don’t have time to love on them with truth, I don’t have time to listen to there problems, or I don’t have time to go and serve.

There is so much hurt in this world, and you don’t have to go to the other side of the world to find it. Its in your neighbors house, or the kid in the classroom sitting next to you, or the person standing next to you, or it may even be you that is hurting and needs a brother or sister to come along side of you. Us as Christians need to get dirty! Just as Jesus did. He washed his closest friends feet, to signify what He was going to do for all of us. He served an undeserving people out of love for us on the cross.

Jesus laid it all down for us, and being His servants and friends we must show the world what love is, because they don’t know. I am talking agape love— the self sacrificing love for others expecting nothing in return, but instead serving as you are serving Jesus himself.