Everybody Loves a Parade
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Palm Sunday is traditionally celebrated as a happy day; a king coming to claim His kingdom
…some truth there
>>badly misunderstood
A bit of history; a bit of geography; a good bit of theology
Tim’s comment on the Easter parades: this is 1st of three
Triumphal Entry
Dragging Jesus to Pilate
The via d’olorosa @ 2000 feet of agonizing walk to the place of crucifixion
If today’s media were covering the story
WILL THERE BE A NEW KINGDOM?
REBEL ARRESTED, TRIAL COMING TODAY
REVOLUTIONARY EXECUTED
Other accounts of the event in Matthew 21:1-9; Mark 11:1-10; John 12:12-15
Luke is the only one with the account of Jesus’ sorrow over the city
All accompanied by crowds…quite possibly some of the same people in all of them
…especially the Pharisees
It was a major event…a spontaneous one, nothing man-orchestrated
Only design was of God, to announce the arrival of His Son
This was lost on most
People gathered around Jesus, laying down their coats; placing palms on the ground
…red-carpet treatment
The Person of Jesus
The Person of Jesus
Fully divine, yet fully man
As such, he understood the background, the current thought, and the future that would fall on Jerusalem
He felt the full weight of what the city would suffer
The emotion overcame the man, and he burst into tears, severe anguish of soul
Place
Place
From the Mt. of Olives, looking onto the city
City of David, the Mountain of God
City of God, the place where God had chosen for His name to dwell
…a city full of history—both OT history and the years between the testaments
View of the Temple; Herod’s Temple—opulent
Likely route would have given Him two earlier partial views of the city
Then a view of the whole city; likely a breathtaking sight
Likely here that Jesus wept
People
People
Jesus
The 12 apostles
The multitude of disciples; a larger, less well-defined group of followers
Common folks following from the surrounding towns and villages
Many had been witness to the miracles...
…coming from Bethany, many many have seen the raising of Lazarus
>>>all fresh on their minds
At least a few pharisees
Chanting the Psalms among the chants...
Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success!
“Hosanna” in other Gospel accounts; spoken in Aramaic, the language of the day
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord.
A rather raucous event
Enough that Jesus was told to quiet His disciples down
What could possibly go wrong
Silencing the skeptics moment: Jesus knew exactly what was going to happen; the way it turned out was not a surprise or miscalculation!
Problem
Problem
The truth was hidden from their eyes
Jesus knows
The ultimate rejection he would receive
The reality behind the rejection
The mob following Him thought he was about to usher in an earthly kingdom
The religious authorities thought He threatened their position
None of them saw Him as Isaiah’s suffering servant
Reality: Anything else was out of God’s perfect plan and His sovereign will
I must confess that I find it the most staggering thing that I could ever contemplate that before the world was created at all, God had planned this redemption that you and I are sharing. (Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones, in Living Water)
Jesus knew He was coming to Jerusalem to die
He knew that His death was necessary to cover the cost of sin—all sin
He knew that just as Israel had rejected the prophets, they would reject Him
He knew that He would rise again
Yet, He wept—burst into tears may be accurate
He knew that though He would be brought before them for all to see, a last opportunity for national repentance, He would be rejected
He knew that even His closest friends would desert Him
…Peter was in the courtyard of he High Priest, as was John…but that’s as close as we see any of the apostles…until we see John, Mary and other women at the cross
Practical Reality
Practical Reality
Luke is the only Gospel writer to record this piece
Silencing the Skeptics II: The best scholarship has this written well before the acts of the Roman army in 70 AD
The matter of the day of the visitation
Judgment had been upon Israel for generations
Always because of disbelief
This was a final chance for repentance…it would be another missed opportunity
Foretold in Isaiah
And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “ ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”
Jerusalem had been destroyed once before—due to disbelief and apostacy
It was coming again…in about 40 years...
This Matters to Me Because…?
This Matters to Me Because…?
The tendency of mankind is to follow a crowd
The enthusiasm is often short-lived
Momentary exuberance is often replaced by apathy, complacency…even a total turn around in emotion
Some of the people who supported Jesus would have been spitting on him as He walked the Via Dolarosa—He was not doing what they thought He was supposed to do
…wrest the nation from control of the Romans
He was coming to be king, not of earth, but of the Heavenly Kingdom
He sought repentance
and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
If Jesus rode into Amsterdam today, would He weep? I think so
He would weep over the lost
He would weep over the false direction of the churches
He would weep over the apathy and complacency of the people inside the churches
For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them;
A final parade
The saints raptured and living following Jesus to Heaven, coming back to live and reign with Him
For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
If the first parade had gotten it right
If they had seen Jesus as the fulfillment of the prophecy in a divine sense, not what they wanted to see
If they had only spread the Word that Jesus had spoken: instruction, warning...
History would have taken a different turn....not for us to dispute how that would have happened