Palm Sunday - A Celebration

Palm Sunday marks the beginning of the last week of Jesus’ life before he would be put to death. It was a day that had a feel of celebration, of anticipation. Today, Palm Sunday is a day that signifies that Easter is next week. It puts us in a holiday mood. We become eager as we anticipate the coming holiday.

On the first Palm Sunday, the people there were eager and anticipating. All were anticipating the Jewish holiday of Passover. There would have been thousands of people coming to Jerusalem for the holiday. But if that was all there was to this particular day, it would not have been enough to cause the breakout of celebration that occurred on that day – there had been many Passovers prior to that one and there would be plenty more in the years to come. The eager anticipation was for the man who was coming into the city, who many thought was someone special. Someone who they heard was from God.

Luke 19:28-46 and John 12:9-21 tell us about the events that occurred on that day. We can feel the air of excitement. They are waving their palm branches in the air. They are placing their outer garments on the path that Jesus is traveling – a kind of red carpet treatment. We hear the people crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” The people have created a procession that typically is given to a conquering king. These people are quoting Psalm 118. This Psalm is part of the Passover celebration and speaks of God’s salvation of His people and freedom from bondage.

So who are these people? Who is there at this Palm Sunday procession?

We see the Pharisees there, and we can assume that along with them are other non-believers. John 12:19, John 12:10-11, Luke 19:39. These men were the “spiritual leaders” of their day. They were extremely concerned that Jesus was going to take away their place – take away their leadership roles, their voice. They rejected the One who was coming to bring them salvation, not recognizing that they were hurting themselves rather than helping themselves. It’s not that they didn’t believe Jesus was who he said he was – that was beside the point. It was that they were more concerned that they would lose their place. They saw Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead. They never doubted his abilities to perform the signs and wonders that he did. They always argued the legality of the healings or miracles. When Jesus raises Lazarus, they don’t think, “Wow, maybe this guy really is God.” They think, “it is better for one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish." (John 11:50) There are still many like these today, “spiritual leaders” in the Christian church, men who are actually pointing away from Jesus and to other teachings and beliefs that give them power, fame and a voice.

The other non-believers might not have had power, fame and a voice, but they didn’t want to give up what they did have. They didn’t want to repent of their ways, their thoughts. Today, we see people who still think that way. Do you know someone who won’t give their life to Jesus, to God, because they have other plans, because they want to keep doing what they like, continue living for their jobs, their habits, their desires? To believe in Jesus, you also have to give up those things. Jesus told the people that they would have to give up everything, that even their own families were to be secondary, that they would have to carry their own cross, even to death. People don’t like to hear that message and so it is much easier to let Jesus be just another good teacher.

Also there on that Palm Sunday were the curious. They weren’t necessarily for Jesus or against him. They might not have run across him yet. They might not have recognized who he was because he was new to them. So they are there too, because others were going around telling everyone about the man who brought Lazarus back to life. They were looking to see the miracle man. Might some of these people also been around later in the week on Friday, calling out “Crucify him!”? It’s possible, since they were looking for the miracle man and all they got during this week was a teacher. Jesus taught much during that week, but the only miracle attributed to him was a private one, the withering of the fig tree. They wanted a miracle man, but Jesus wasn’t what they were expecting, so they turned from him.

Today, there are many who come to the church looking for a miracle man. People want God to be their personal Genie. Someone who will give them every whim of their hearts. Someone who will make sense to them. But that is not how God works. God promises that he will answer prayers asked in faith, in His will. If something is not in His will, He will not provide it, even if it seems good to us. Those who are looking for Jesus to give them everything they ask for, looking for a miracle man, will quickly find that this is not the kind of God he is. Upon finding this, they usually will turn away from Christ saying that he was not who he claimed to be. Do you know people today who have turned from Jesus because things haven’t gone their way, because the real Jesus didn’t match what they wanted Jesus to be, because Jesus didn’t make sense to them? If so, we need to show them the real Jesus.

Of course, Jesus was there on that Palm Sunday. Here was God come down from heaven, riding on a colt of a donkey. The Roman soldiers who were there, watching carefully to make sure that these Jewish people wouldn’t riot, probably laughed at the site. “This is the man who is going to defeat the great Roman Empire?! And how will he do it? Will he beat us down with that loaf of bread?!” What they didn’t know is that Zechariah 9:9 prophesied, “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Here came God himself, coming as the salvation of those who would believe. But his own people wouldn’t believe. They wouldn’t accept their savior. And so, Jesus weeps for them. He weeps because he knows the future they would endure. He prophesies the loss of their beloved city and the temple within it. And he says in Matthew 23:39, “You will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’” Jesus knows that this will be his last week on Earth and that his time has come. He knows that because it is the whole reason he come to the earth in the first place. He came because God had promised that there would be a New Covenant with His people, one not like that covenant He made with Moses, which the people were always breaking, but one where He would write the law on our hearts and would forgive our sins and remember them no more (Jer 31:30-34). So Jesus came down to fulfill that promise, to bring in the New Covenant, to become the perfect and final sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins.

And yet, as he rides into Jerusalem, the believers and disciples are crying out “Hosanna!” This word means “Save us!” Those who believe in him know that he is the only one who can save them. They cry out, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” knowing that this was prophesied hundreds of years earlier. John 12:42-43 “Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.” We see that some believers were content to stay part of the crowd, not wanting to actually step forward and risk the wrath of the Pharisees, of their friends or families. These people cried out to Jesus in their hearts. They came to a place of Salvation, but they did not necessarily do that which they were called to do.

On the other hand, we see that Jesus told two of his disciples to go to the next town and to untie a colt of a donkey and bring it back so that he could ride it into the city. The two disciples took Jesus’ instructions and did exactly as he asked them to do. In this day, we will find that there are both types of believers as well. Are you one of those believers that are content with your own salvation? Are you too afraid to do what Jesus is asking you to do? Are you more concerned with what others might think or say about you? Or are you like the two disciples, ready to go out and do exactly what Jesus is asking you to do?

On that Palm Sunday over 2000 years ago, the believers and the hopeful raised their palms in the air, waving them in tribute to the Messiah, Jesus. They called out for Jesus to save them, “Hosanna!” And they called out to him as their Messiah, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” They did that because they had a hope for who he was, what he was doing and what he was going to do. They had a glimpse into what the future could be like. But we read in Rev 7:9-15 that there will come a day in the future that those who believe in him will again wave their palms in the air and all bow down and worship him who saves. Will you be there? Jesus told us that there is only one way to be in that group – to believe in him! Because he is the way, the truth and the life and that no one comes to the father except through the Son. The way is narrow and many will take the broad path, but that is the way to destruction. The way to heaven is through the gate that is guarded by Jesus and that only those who pass through that gate, will enter into the kingdom. Are you going to be there?

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Last modified: April 9, 2006