Palm Sunday

One of the joys I have in preparing sermons every week is, I will always study something new throughout the years. Even subjects I have studied previously are made clearer at a second glance. The depth of God’s Word is remarkable. That being said, I have never studied Palm Sunday. Last year we looked at the crucifixion and we broke down the medical trauma of Jesus’ torture and death on the cross. I recommend you go back and listen to it. So I never really understood the significance of Palm Sunday. I heard it referenced as the triumphal entry but I never really studied why. With this in mind I want to show you something, but as we go through Scripture today I want us to do so with a question in mind, who is this Jesus? There are passages we will be covering and to help you I have on the screen the list of the books of the Bible. They are listed in order top to bottom, left to right.

We begin in the first book of the Bible. Please turn to Genesis chapter 49. The verses that we begin looking at today are verses 10-11. Lets read together, Genesis 49:10-11 “10 “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. 11 “He ties his foal to the vine, And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine; He washes his garments in wine, And his robes in the blood of grapes.”

Verse 10 is a verse which scholars cannot agree upon and it hinges on the word “Shiloh.” Was this a location? Was this a person? Was this a prophecy of the Messiah? I will not bore you with all the details of it, but the interpretation of shiloh, though important does not affect what we are covering today. What we do need to grasp from verse 10 is the clear authority being communicated. There is significance in the ruling which would occur in the future of Judah. Here Judah is a person but soon the name Judah would be the name over the house of Israel which would bring King David and then through that bloodline, Jesus of Nazareth. There is very clear kingdom talk. That being said we now look at verse 11, and we are bombarded with a lot of imagery. (Re-read) What are we seeing? First, we see very clearly an abundance of harvest. This is expressed in two ways, working backwards, he washes his garments in wine. There is such a great harvest that wine is more readily available than water. This is not to say they did wash their clothes in wine but that with such great quantities they are finding more uses for it. This is also communicated in that he ties his foal and his donkeys colt to the vine. Once again we see abundance. These animals would eat the vine to their bellies content, but the owner is not worried. He allows them to, because of the great quantity. Lastly we come to the creatures tied to the vine. The youthfulness of the colt communicates vigor and the nature of the beast denotes royalty. All throughout this we are being told of affluence of the man and how it is shown.

The donkey is important to our narrative today. We see in the blessing of Judah that there would be a great harvest and affluence coming to the line of Judah and in that blessing we see a symbol of that, a donkey.

Turn with me to Zechariah 9. We see a prophecy by Zechariah of who is to come. Zechariah 9:9-10 “9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim And the horse from Jerusalem; And the bow of war will be cut off. And He will speak peace to the nations; And His dominion will be from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth.” Verse 10 tells us the kingdom which is to come. That there is a King coming who will set up a reign which will take dominion over all. But this kingdom is not one which is built upon war and calamity. It is one which destroys the need for any war. Their chariots will be destroyed, the bows will be broken not out of force but due their useless nature. There is no need for instruments of war when there is no war. This is the kingdom coming says Zechariah. Do you remember that as you read through the Gospels and the book of Acts how they kept trying to make Jesus King? We saw this happen in John 6. His Apostles, following the Resurrection asked Jesus Acts 1:6 “6 So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” Having read of this Kingdom to come, we can understand why they wanted Jesus as king and how the Apostles thought that following His resurrection surely now the time has come. That is the kingdom all of humanity yearns for, especially Israel who at this time is under the subjection of the Roman Empire. We can understand why, but our question today is, “Who is this Jesus?” Zechariah 9 begins to make this picture a little clearer, Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. A king is coming and this king brings with Him salvation. He has ability to pardon one from their sin. This king rides in on a donkey.

We come to 2 Kings and we see Elisha came to anoint Jehu as king.

The servant of Elisha goes to the commanders who are gathered and he says there is a word of Jehu. Jehu gets up and enters the house and Elisha is there to anoint Jehu with oil as King of Israel. When Jehu leaves the meeting with Elisha he is questioned. 2 Kings 9:11-13 “11 Now Jehu came out to the servants of his master, and one said to him, “Is all well? Why did this mad fellow come to you?” And he said to them, “You know very well the man and his talk.” 12 They said, “It is a lie, tell us now.” And he said, “Thus and thus he said to me, ‘Thus says the Lord, “I have anointed you king over Israel.” ’ ” 13 Then they hurried and each man took his garment and placed it under him on the bare steps, and blew the trumpet, saying, “Jehu is king!” The act of placing one’s respect and commitment to the person. They recognized Jehu and God anointing him as king and they sounded the horn, signifying that a king has been anointed, and they publically showed their loyalty to Jehu by laying their clothes down in his path.

Rachel read Matthew 21 for us to begin the service, but now I would like to turn to the Gospel of John 12. John does not go into the detail of how the donkey was acquired. He is re-telling this event from a different perspective. John 12:12-18 “12 On the next day the large crowd who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began to shout, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.” 14 Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written, 15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.” 16 These things His disciples did not understand at the first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of Him, and that they had done these things to Him. 17 So the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, continued to testify about Him. 18 For this reason also the people went and met Him, because they heard that He had performed this sign.” What is the significance? John is the only Gospel to specify the branches being used were pal branches. The Gospel of John is the only to not mention that in addition to the palm branches people were laying their garments before Christ as He rode. With all the Gospels placed in front of us we see very clearly Jesus is riding upon the Donkey, a symbol of royalty, affluence, blessing, abundance, and as he is riding they are laying their garments, a sign of loyalty to Christ. They are also laying Palm branches before Christ, which one would do following a victory. But what has Jesus conquered? I want to present you this, it is not that Jesus has conquered, but what he will conquer. This marks the beginning of the passion week which will culminate in the death of Jesus on the cross. They are chanting Hosanna, which derives form two Hebrew word’s which mean “Save us now” or “Save Now, I pray.” I see two great ironies here, they are praising God for what will be conquered (though they do not know what) and they showing their loyalty. The ironies are, they do not know what will be conquered and their loyalty is not in that cause. They are full support of the Kingdom which Judah would have with peace and prosperity. That kingdom they want and that is the King they want Jesus to be. But that is not the Kingdom at hand, and he is not the King they thought He was. Their loyalty was in this but Jesus gave them something else. When Jesus gave them something else their loyalty was gone. Jesus was abandoned and left alone. But that does not change this moment when the people make way what Jesus came to accomplish. He is the King we did not expect and he is the Savior we could never imagine.

Who is this Jesus and what Kind of King is He? Who is this King who bears the sin of His people? Who is this king who sweats blood in anguish for the cup set before Him? What king would drink the cup of God’s wrath that his people would be spared? What king would be crowned, not with Gold filled with gems, rather, is crowned with thorns? He is like no King we have ever seen. He is not the King we expected. He is a King who is greater than we could have imagined. Who is this Jesus? Who is this man who bears the very name, “I am?” Who is this man who rides in on a donkey as the crowds shout “Hosanna Hosanna?” Who is this man who has been betrayed by those closest to Him? Who is this man who is beaten and crucified alongside sinners? He is the Savior of mankind. He is like no other so-called savior before Him, nor after. He is not the Savior we expected. He is a Savior who is greater than we could have ever imagined.

He is King of King and LORD of LORD’s. He was not who we expected. We expected disappointing Father, yet we were met with an embrace. We expected burdens to be caste upon our shoulders, yet He took them and put them on Himself. We expected to stand naked before a God of wrath, yet we met a God who clothed us in His Righteousness. Who we expected is not who we got. Who we thought God was is not who He is. We were wrong. Who is this Jesus? The depth of who He is I cannot express but who He is is found in every regenerate sinners heart. He is the Father you always wanted. He’s the friend who never leaves you. He’s a shoulder to cry upon. He’s the shepherd who found you. He’s the only one who has never left you. He carries you in you despair. He teaches you in your failures. He build you up rather than tearing you down. He loves you, even when your unlovable. He chases after you when you try to run. You answer the question: Who is this Jesus? Who He is, is different in all of our experiences but there is one thing He is to all who have come to Him, He is our Savior. We can chase after all that Jesus is by our own experience but there is one experience we share and that experience is what marks our starting point, He is my Savior. Can you say that about Jesus? He is the King we never expected. He is the Savior we never imagined we would have. But do you know Him?