Palm Sunday - Passion

Introduction

We celebrate Palm Sunday every year in preparation for Easter. In some churches today you will have children waving palm branches as part of the worship service. In other churches you may see a production or play put on that incorporates a celebration of Jesus entering Jerusalem as a king. There are many ways in which we can celebrate Palm Sunday. Today though I want to focus on Jesus’ disciples. Yes that may sound strange but there are two parts to this story. Yes, Jesus is our triumphant king but we don’t need to forget the other people in this passage. There are two stages to this story. There is Jesus’ preparation to enter Jerusalem where he tells his disciples to do something for him. Then there is the second stage where Jesus enters Jerusalem and Jesus’ disciples again do something for him but not because Jesus requested them to do so.

Go and prepare for me

Lets start with the first stage of the passage. Jesus tells his disciples to go and fetch a colt that has never been ridden on and bring it to him. If anyone asks why they are doing this just tell them the Lord needs it.

This is a bit strange of a request is it not? This request is setting the stage for Jesus’ entry. This way of entering the city is as a king. We know King David arrived this way. Zechariah 9:9 also mentions this way of the king entering.

Zechariah 9:9 NRSV

9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

These disciples were being instructed to prepare for the king to enter Jerusalem. This meant something special to them. They had been with Jesus for these years and had been with him through many experiences. Jesus had confrontations with many of the religious leaders of that time and Jerusalem was the capital, the center of the whole world to them. This meant Jesus’ time had come. It was time for him to become king. In fact the way he was requesting to enter meant he was already recognized as king. David only entered Jerusalem this way when he was already named king outside of Jerusalem. In some bible scholars minds, Jesus was making a statement here that he was already king, not coming to claim the kingship.

These disciples were now part of the king coming into Jerusalem. However, this required them to prepare and complete a task. For me personally, it would seem very awkward to go and take another person’s animal and simply say it is for the Lord and expect them to accept that answer. Yet this is what is done here. The disciples take Jesus at his word and go and find the colt, repeat Jesus’ words and bring the colt to him. Bible scholars point out that a king can lay claim on whatever he needs. The fact that the disciples said this and the owner accepted it means something. Perhaps this reinforced the idea that Jesus was already king and people had accepted him as king.

What steps are we taking to prepare ourselves for Jesus as King? I often wonder because these events are in the past we also think nothing is left for us to prepare for. Yet, I can’t help but wonder if that is not quite true. How can we prepare our hearts and minds for Jesus to enter triumphantly as Lord over our lives? Perhaps something has been happening recently where God has asked you to prepare for something or do something that is preparing for the future. We will circle back around to this in a bit but for now lets go back to the disciples story

The Disciples Praise the King

The second stage of this passage is Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. He comes into town with quite a procession. He is coming in with a royal procession. He is entering just like the kings of old. He is coming in a way scripture foretold. Jesus is being greeted by the crowds quite well who are also treating him as a king by adding to the royal procession by laying down garments and branches for his path. While we don’t have a quantifiable number of people doing this, we do hear it translated as crowds or multitudes of disciples. At this stage though, these disciples are leading Jesus’ royal procession. They are giving him a royal procession because they see him as king. They are shouting praises and laying down garments and branches to make his path. In some ways I see that in modern day terms as rolling out the red carpet for him.

There are some in this crowd though that don’t agree with the disciples or Jesus entering this way. Why? Because they don’t think he is king. Jesus’ answer to them though is even if he were to tell his disciples to be quiet, the stones themselves would cry out praise. There was a passion in the air that Jesus would not deny. These disciples were passionately declaring the praises of God and recognizing the mighty works of God. There would be no silencing or diminishing this passion.

While we could debate that the disciples might not have fully understood what type of king Jesus is at this moment, there is no denying their passion for him as their king. Everyone around could tell their passion for their king was genuine and there would be no stifling of their passion being poured out in the form of praise to God.

How incredible would it be to have that kind of passion for Jesus as you walk down the streets? It is easy to say well that was then, now people will just think I am silly and pay no attention to me. Or perhaps we may excuse it away as that was then but this is now and it is different. But I ask the same question though, where is our passion for Jesus like the disciples demonstrated? Where do others see our passionate praise overflowing for God? If we are lacking this passion where do we find it?

Read about it, pray about it, talk about it, share it with others. These are simple steps to follow. While we may bring up scriptures and study them and talk about them, if we only do this on Sunday we can only expect a bare minimum amount of passion for God in our lives. If we do this daily, we can expect a building up of passion for God.

We talked about this during our baptism series that we recognize the grace of God at work before, during, and after our baptism. These disciples who were shouting praises in this passage would be scattered and dismayed in a short while because of the arrest and death of Jesus. Yet we also continue reading the story because these same disciples received enormous hope with Jesus’ resurrection. We learn from their stories what discipleship is like. This is the reading step.

The praying step is simply praying about what you read. What does this mean God? How does this apply today? What do you want me to learn from this passage? Take note of the things that run through your mind in this prayer time. You may have more questions than answers.

Talk about it with others. Perhaps you can write down those questions and ask others. Talking about scripture amongst friends and family never is without bearing fruit.

Next, summarize your thoughts on that passage. Can you share what you learned about that passage? If you can share it, then you have passed the teachers test meaning if you can share it, you have learned it well enough. Now don’t get to extreme with this meaning, you don’t need to teach it professionally but you get the point that if you can clearly share it with someone else then you have gathered your thoughts and organized them where you can share them effectively with others.

These steps require dedication and a passion to grow closer with God. The more you practice these disciplines the more you will find passion for God in your life. We desperately need passion for God in our lives.

In last week’s message, we talked about how in our baptism, we are inducted into the priesthood of believers. We are all called to a general ministry of proclaiming the gospel news and serving others. These disciples did this in this story. The multitude of disciples in this passage were declaring praise to God for all the wonderful works and miracles that they witnessed. We too should look at our own lives and give testimony for what we have seen and witnessed.

Last week we also talked about there were some disciples that Jesus told to go and get the colt for him. In some ways you can look at Jesus calling them to a specific task. Baptism also may start you down the path for something specific God wants you to do.

At any rate, today, is a great day to start working in the priesthood of believers whether you are called to the general ministry to testify of the Gospel News. Or perhaps, God is calling you to something more specific. People may be called to any ministry but all are called to this general witness we see in this palm Sunday passage. Today is a good day to accept that call to serve God with passion. May our prayer today be for growing this passion for our Savior to prepare us for Easter.