Palm's, Protests, and Funeral Processions
Notes
Transcript
Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples,
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.
If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.”
This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,
“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.’ ”
The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them.
They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them.
Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
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!”
And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?”
And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
Introduction: Who doesn’t love a parade? My daughter marched in several local parades this year while playing the mellophone in the High School band. That made it the best parade ever!
The largest ticker-tape parade ever held was in 1962 in NYC celebrating Astronaut John Glenn’s successful mission of becoming the first American to orbit the Earth. Afterward, the NYC Sanitation department cleaned up 3,474 TONS of ticker-tape, confetti and other paper along the 7-mile route taken by the parade.
Parades are exciting and uplifting. Usually, there are three groups of people at a parade - those who support the cause of the parade, those who are just there to have fun, and those who are dragged there by someone in the first two groups.
The parade we just read about in scripture was like that: There was the crowd of disciples and followers who knew Jesus and there was the “city “asking “Who is this guy? What’s going on?”
Today, on the Palm Sunday, we are going to dig deeper into the triumphal entry to see the different reactions from the people who witnessed it in person. We see ourselves in many of these reactions if we look close enough.
Palms of Praise (vv. 8-9)
Palms of Praise (vv. 8-9)
Jesus never really called attention to himself and his ministry until this very day. He often shied away from publicity. Clearly, he planned it on this occasion.
Look at Matthew 21:1-2
Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples,
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.
He sent his disciples to fetch a donkey colt to ride into Jerusalem, along with the mother. Now Jesus rode the colt. That doesn’t seem to be a very elegant form of transportation, does it?
If it was today, it would have been the equivalent of riding into town in a Smart Car vs. a Cadillac Limo.
Kings would ride a horse into battle during war to show their power. If they came in peace, they would ride a donkey. Jesus rode the colt of a donkey to demonstrate humility and that he was coming in peace.
Apart from that though, why did Jesus choose this mode of transport? Matthew tells us why...
This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,
“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.’ ”
He was fulfilling prophecy! Zechariah 9:9
By the way, do you recognize that Jesus fulfilled over 300 prophecies during his earthly ministry? No other religious leader in history has done that.
Also, look at Zechariah 9:10
I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.
As they approached Jerusalem, his disciples put their clothes on the donkey and the colt and Jesus sat upon the colt.
Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
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!”
There would have been at least three groups of people that made up this crowd, his followers from Galilee, the people who lived in Jerusalem, and the ones who had witnessed the raising of Lazarus from the dead which had taken place right before the triumphal entry.
Those from Galilee and those who witnessed the raising of Lazarus were the ones praising and waving the palms and the ones from Jerusalem, as we will see in a few minutes, were the ones who were more reserved.
They were shouting, Hosanna, blessed be the name of the Lord!
They were quoting a Messianic Psalm from the OT:
Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord.
We might be tempted to think, wow…these people get it. They understood. They were quoting a Psalm about the Messiah.
But not quite…you see they shouted, “save us!” or save now! They were proclaiming Jesus as the rightful King of Israel and they quoted a messianic prophecy but clearly, they were thing political salvation, not spiritual salvation.
They were thinking, the Romans are gonna get it now! The Messiah is here and he is going to take our nation back.
This was a wave of patriotism. There is nothing wrong with patriotism for sure, but Jesus was coming to save them from save them from an even greater threat, their sin. And most of them, even his disciples, didn’t see it.
I will never forget what one of my mentors, Bill Thomas, said once. “There are people out there that want the blessings of God, but they don’t want God.” Israel wanted freedom. They wanted to be an independent nation once again. But did they want to know God?
We know later in the week, their praises would become curses. It is interesting to note that part of the Psalm that they were quoting is quoted by Jesus later in the chapter:
Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “ ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
A Parade Turned to Protest (v. 10)
A Parade Turned to Protest (v. 10)
I think a key passage that unlocks what is going on here is v. 10
And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?”
Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem was quite ground shaking. That is the literal meaning behind the words used here…convulsed or shaken as in an earth quake.
That third crowd that I mentioned a few minutes ago…the crowd in Jerusalem itself…they raised an important question that we must address...
“Who is this?”
We have already seen how some people saw Jesus as being a political messiah.
Everyone wanted something different from Jesus. Most of them were disappointed in who he really was. Which is why the crowds went from cheering him on to calling for his death in a few short days.
Many in the crowd were looking for a miracle working Jesus.
The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness.
The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign.
Jesus addressed this right after the feeding of the 5000.
Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.
The Chief priests and scribes, the religious leaders…how did they see Jesus? They perceived him as a threat to their power.
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,
How did they disciples perceive him? To them, Jesus was the Rockstar. They thrived on the attention that they received while they were with Jesus. Look at what happened right before the triumphal entry...
And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”
And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?”
And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”
Some in the crowd saw Jesus as the prophet. Which is why they responded they way they did when people asked, “Who is this?” That is another Messianic reference going back to the time of Moses.
“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—
And yes, he is that prophet that Moses referred to but that is still not the total picture of who Jesus is.
Even today there are many who question who Jesus is...
Illus. NC State Campus - Atheist who trusts in science. Jesus is nothing more than a magical sky being.
Illus. Raleigh Bus Station - Muslim who said he was once a Baptist. Jesus is not the son of God because God has no sons. He was a prophet who is coming back to destroy the Antichrist.
BUT who is this? Who Is Jesus? Well, let’s see what he has to say...
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Jesus is God. He took on the form of a man and went to the cross to die for your sin any my sin. He was buried in a borrowed tomb. He rose again on the third day and ascended to the right hand of the father where he sits at His right hand interceding for us. And he is coming back again…not riding on a colt of a donkey but as a conquering King riding upon a white horse!
The people in the crowd that day missed that…but you don’t have to miss it.
He died for you…GOSPEL
A Funeral Procession (vv 1-10)
A Funeral Procession (vv 1-10)
We call this portion of scripture the Triumphal Entry.
When I think of this passage, I think of the funeral processions that they have in the French Quarter of New Orleans. The crowd marches through the streets with the brass players playing and their umbrellas open. It’s a celebration and yet is is a funeral. If you haver never experienced this, you should some day.
Little did the people in the crowd that day actually know that this celebration was a funeral procession.
Jesus had his face set toward Jerusalem - toward the cross. His hour had come.
On Sunday, the crowds were shouting “Hosanna” proclaiming him as the king of the Jews…but on Friday, they were nailing a sign over his bloody thorn-crowned head reading, “The King of the Jews.”
Jesus was on his way to his own funeral…thankfully, the funeral was only temporary though because he was going to conquer the grave.
And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.
Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”
A little later in the same chapter of John, Jesus said this:
And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”