Palm Sunday

Today is Palm Sunday. Every year, we get these palms and we take them home and if we really think about it, what is the meaning of these palms? What are we supposed to do with these? We do with these the same that the people did on the day that Jesus entered into Jerusalem. Today we come waving these palms shouting “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord! Hosanna in the Highest!”

Palm Sunday is the day we celebrate Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. Palm Sunday is the beginning of something – Holy Week. From today until Easter, we see the dark shadow looming. Jesus time is coming. Each day is a day closer to the day for which he has been sent to this earth. The day of his death. However, on this day, Palm Sunday, we see Jesus at his highest prior to his death.

He has just performed the miracle of the raising of Lazarus. He also has healed a couple more people on his way. Crowds are pushing in on him, people want to see him. He is about to enter into Jerusalem. Exodus 12:6 tells us that on the 14th day, the Passover would take place. We also know that Passover will be on Thursday of Holy Week. If Thursday is to be the 14th, then Sunday would have been the 10th. Exodus 12:3 tells us why Jesus came into Jerusalem on this day. It is on the 10th that the lamb was to be set apart. This is where we pick up in Matt 21:1-11.

The people recognize Jesus as a prophet. But Jesus tells them something different here. Jesus goes into Jerusalem as a king. He knows what he is doing when he rides in on a donkey. “See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey (NIV)." Zech 9:9. His time has come. He is setting the stage for Holy Week. He is claiming to be king.

Yet, what is he claiming to be king of? The people would have thought that he was claiming to be king of the Jews. In fact, this is what ends up on the cross when he is crucified and it is what the Jews accuse him of to Pilate. But was Jesus actually claiming to be king of the Jews? In John 18:33-37, we see that Jesus again reiterates that he is a king. But here he tells us that his kingdom is not of this world. So he didn’t come to be king of Jerusalem, or Rome or any other nation. He came to be king of something else. He was already king of the universe. So what was he riding in to be king of? You and me! He came to be king of our lives. Our hearts! Have we let Jesus become king of our lives? Or are we satisfied with understanding that he lived and died. Do we think of Jesus as our God who lives right here and now, able to work in our lives? Or is he just an idea that we are hoping will pay off one day? If we do not recognize that Jesus is a real God, alive right now and really watching over us, then we live our lives for ourselves. We are kings of our own lives. But Jesus entered into Jerusalem on a colt to show us that he is our king and we need to let him be that king.

He isn’t the kind of king we think about when we regularly think of kings. Kings are typically unapproachable. They are dressed in the most expensive clothing. They sit on thrones. They certainly are not covered in dust, wearing sandals and riding on donkeys.

What kind of king is Jesus?  He doesn’t act like a king. He doesn’t look like a king. Jesus is the kind of king that gets down on his knees and washes feet. He wears the clothing of a carpenter. But most importantly, he is not like the king who doesn’t care about what his subjects think. He does care. He wants us to love him. He is more like a shepherd than a king, looking for those who have gotten lost. He calls us friend. He rides into Jerusalem knowing that in a few days, he is the lamb that has been set apart for the Passover, and who will be sacrificed for the salvation of everyone.  What kind of king does that? He is the king who loves us with a love that we cannot understand. Our inability to understand his love causes us to ignore it, to take it for granted. But Jesus, though he loves us, is still king.

Is he king in your life? Let’s take our palms and wave them. “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” Let’s let Jesus be king. After all, he already is.

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Last modified: April 1, 2007