The Triumphal Entry

Today is Palm Sunday. We’ve spent this lenten season studying The Passion of Christ, that is, Jesus’ heart and ministry that is best summed up as, “Seeking and saving the lost.” It is significant, that those who know they are lost—sinners, the down and out, the forgotten, the overlooked, the unimportant—they recognise and find salvation in Jesus. But those who are the found—the so-called righteous, the leaders, the teachers, the priests, the ones who should know the Messiah from the scriptures, they don’t recognise and find salvation in Jesus, and they remain lost.

It has been my prayer throughout this entire series that all of us would stop and consider who Jesus is. Have we, like the Pharisees, dismissed the true Jesus, as he is revealed in His Word, for a Jesus of our own making? There are a lot of things pushing and pulling us, there are a lot of ideas of what kind of Christian we can be, ought to be, and should be. But what does Jesus himself say? Have we, like the sinners, the lost, had our eyes opened by the Holy Spirit to see, know, understand and love Jesus as he really and truly is?

Since today is Palm Sunday, it is good for us to consider three things: Preparation, Identification, and Implication.

Preparation

Everything the Lord does is done well and good. God created the universe and it was very good. God prepared the way for the promised Messiah, throughout a carefully planned genealogy of real people in history. God proclaimed the significance of the Messiah’s coming by demonstrating, through Abraham and Isaac, through the Exodus of Israel out of slavery in Egypt, through the nation of Israel, through the prophets, the kings, the everyday ordinary people, through John the Baptist and now through His very own Son, Jesus of Nazareth.

Here, on that Palm Sunday, long ago, God prepared the way for Jesus to come, in triumph, to announce that the King has come. God prepared everything. From the farmer breeding the donkey and her colt, to the person in the village who owned the animals and willingly surrendered them to the Lord for His use.

Everything was planned and prepared. The Lord God even surrounded himself with faithful disciples who would hear and obey, who would go, get the donkey and bring it to him. They would honour him as their King, even though they didn’t fully understand the significance of his Kingship, or the fullness of his Kingdom! They willingly obeyed, and did what he asked.

They prepared the way for him to enter, by putting their cloaks on the donkey, and on the road, rolling out the red carpet, as it were, and thus fulfilling the words spoke by the prophet Zechariah in chapter 9:9. Every detail was considered. Nothing was out of place.

Identification

All these things were prepared and took place in order to reveal Jesus’ identity. So far, he was known as a great teacher, as one who spoke with authority, as one who healed, who raised people from the dead, as someone long hoped for. Many understood that he could only be the Messiah, the one from God who would save the people of Israel.

But here, Jesus reveals even more. Jesus is the king. He, David’s Son, is soon to take up his kingship. He will rule and reign on the throne of David forever! Praise be to the Lord God!

But the people didn’t understand his kingship. Jesus is king of more than Israel, he is king of the whole universe! He is the king, whether his subjects recognise him as such or not!

But what kind of king is he? He is our king. He is king not for himself, or from some other place, but he is the king who seeks and saves! He is the king who rescues. He is the king who comes to serve. He benefits us!

This king is gentle, humble, peaceful and gracious. Here he is, arriving on a donkey, which is what a peaceful king would choose to ride. He comes in humility. He comes in approachability. He’s the king among the people, not the king high and mighty, far and out of reach, only to be seen from behind barriers and far away. He is perfectly approachable, and is receptive to everyone who wants to know him, love him, and trust him.

Implication

But what is the implication of Jesus, the king, humble and gracious? The implication is that all who want to receive him as their king is invited to do so! Jesus is the knowable king. He’s got roots, he’s from a hometown. People knew him. People, perhaps some who were there, could tell stories, of when he was growing up in Nazareth. Jesus? Yes, I know Jesus, bounced him on my knee a time or two. What was he like? One of the best stories I ever heard was the time his mom and dad came back from the feasts in Jerusalem. Everyone remembers this story, because they came home about three days later than everyone else. What happened was Mary and Joseph began their journey home, and assumed, as we all did in those days, that Jesus was hanging out with and travelling with his cousins and friends. Well, after travelling all day, when they stopped, for the night, they couldn’t find him. He wasn’t anywhere, they must have forgotten him in Jerusalem. You’ve left your kid at Walmart? Yeah, kinda like that… So, they go all the way back to Jerusalem and search all over the city and can’t find him. Finally they think to check in the priests at the temple, maybe they’ve heard of his whereabouts.

They get to the temple, and wouldn’t ya know it, there’s Jesus, sitting in the middle of the brightest and best teachers in Israel, holding them spellbound! The insights that young man had at his age, well, only the Son of God could know what he knew. Mary and Joseph, and you have to admit, given who Jesus really is, this is quite funny, Mary and Joseph scolded him for upsetting them, causing them to have to come all the way back, and look all over Jerusalem for him, Jesus answered them, “Where did you think I’d be? Didn’t you know I’d be in my Father’s house? What took you so long to figure out where I was, and why didn’t you come to get me?”

Isn’t it amazing how we can get so familiar with someone, that we can forget who they really are?

So there we have it, congregation. Here is Jesus. He is your Saviour. He has saved you from all your sins. All the things that you’ve done wrong, all the wrongs you’ve suffered, all are forgiven in Him. He is your saviour.

He is also your gracious king. Come to him, in his gracious attitude toward you, recognise him as your King. Surrender yourself to him. Accept him as your King. Live under his lordship.

His lordship over us means that we cannot live and behave any old way we want. We must surrender ourselves, our identities, and become citizens of Christ, in other words, Christians. We are plain and simply Christians. We are not fill in the blank Christian. We are not Christian fill in the blank. We are Christian. We derive our identity, our understanding of ourselves as belonging, and being obedient to Jesus, our King.

Here’s the really cool thing. The more we look at Jesus, the more we apprehend his awesomeness, the more we learn about him, the more we love him. The more we love him, the more we become amazed by him. The more we become amazed by him, the more we see of him in our lives, in the world around us, in each other. The more we see of him, the more we desire to be like him, to show our love for him, to serve him, to give up everything for him!

Because God brought about everything that was needed and necessary for the coming of King Jesus into Jerusalem, we can trust God to show us how Jesus is present in our lives, in our world, in all our past, present and future circumstances. Jesus is our good and faithful king. He has come with healing in his hands. Receive him as your king, and be healed, in soul, mind and spirit. Amen.