Iliff and Saltillo UM Churches
Palm Sunday
April 4, 2004
“Another Side of the King”
Luke 19:28-44
INTRODUCTION: Have you ever gone to some event where there was a huge crowd of people? Maybe it was a parade, a ballgame, or a political rally where people were showing some kind of response, favorable or unfavorable. Maybe they were clapping and cheering and carrying signs. Maybe they were shouting or even booing as the celebrity came out to speak. You got an impression from their actions, voices, and facial expressions what they were thinking. You might say, “They are really happy, and really like this person.” Or you might perceive an upset and angry crowd of people. On the other hand you might not be able to tell what they were actually thinking down deep inside.
Sometimes we think we know what the people around us are thinking and feeling by indication of what they say--by facial expressions or just by their actions. But we can’t ALWAYS tell. Things are not ALWAYS as they seem to be.
Today’s scripture in Luke doesn’t mention the actual entry into Jerusalem--the triumphal entrance that we call Palm Sunday. Instead he shows us Jesus only APPROACHING Jerusalem and after the crowd’s welcome he is still APPROACHING Jerusalem.
What Jesus was actually thinking and feeling that day was probably not evident to most of the people in that crowd--maybe not even to his closest followers. You might wonder why there was a triumphal entry into Jerusalem in the first place. He was warned not to go there. Why did He arrange the event when the city was so crowded? Why did he arrange this event when He knew he was going to be rejected by the masses? Why did He put himself through the harassment by the Pharisees?
Let’s see what we can get out of today’s scripture.
1. The Planned Event: Jesus needed to make a public entrance into Jerusalem before He died. He arranged it for the following reasons:
1. to FULFILL Old Testament prophecy
2. to DECLARE OPENLY that He was the Messiah.
3. to start the COUNTDOWN to the cross.
He chose a time when all Israel would be gathered in Jerusalem--a place where huge crowds could see Him and He could proclaim his mission that would be unmistakable to the masses. It was an open and deliberate assertion of His Messiahship. He must be rejected as the Messiah-King.
Old Testament prophecies that would be fulfilled were :
(1) Zechariah 9:9 which says, “See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” He even arranged to borrow the colt.
(2) Another scripture that was fulfilled that day was Psalm 118:26, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”
(3) Scattering their cloaks on the road was a sign of a royal welcome (See II Kings 9:13).
(4) Waving Palm Branches was a sign of victory.
(5) Shouting “Hosanna!” meant “Save Now.”
(6) Zechariah 14:4 spoke of the Mt. of Olives as the place of His coming.
These symbols are also mentioned in the Matthew, Mark, and John account, and they all fulfill the Old Testament prophecies. At the time his own disciples--the closest people to him--didn’t even notice the fulfillment of what had been prophesied hundreds of years earlier.
2. The Thoughts of the King: Jesus had his mind on the cross. John 12:20-23 says, “the hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified.” The “hour” signified the approaching crisis. Instead of being elated with the crowds of people that would be shouting, “Hosanna,” waving palm branches and spreading their coats out in his honor, he was grieved over the hardness of their hearts and their spiritual blindness. The people had it all wrong. They were expecting Him to set up an earthly kingdom right then and there to help them. When they shouted, “Hosanna” they meant, “Save us from the oppression of our enemies.” Do it now. Their expectations were totally different from His. His purpose was not to overthrow the Roman government but the breaking of the power of sin over people’s lives.
He wanted to bring PEACE to the individual. He did not come riding into town upon a war-horse as a political revolutionary. He came on the donkey which symbolized humility.
Jesus, still outside the city, looks out at the city and sees the real picture--how it really was. He is grieved over the sin and He weeps. He said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, BUT YOU WERE NOT WILLING” (Luke 13:34).
--Charles Dickens once said, “Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts. “
Jesus was grieved because of their rejection of him and the hardness of their hearts. They wouldn’t bend an inch. He was sad that God’s chosen people failed to recognize God’s coming to them. He said, “if you had only known on this day what would bring you peace--but now it is hidden from your eyes” (Luke 19:41). He could foresee the destruction of the city and he thought all of this could have been prevented.
About forty years after Jesus said these words they came true in A.D. 66. The Jews revolted against Roman control. By A.D. 70 the Roman soldiers attacked Jerusalem and broke through the northern wall and entered the severely weakened city and burned it. Many Jews were killed during the onslaught.
As He looked out over the city that day and saw its fate, He wished that even at this late stage that the people might repent and turn. The city of peace in no way resembled its name. The day of peace had arrived but they missed it.
Having warned his disciples against false expectations of what would happen in Jerusalem, Jesus prepared for his entry. He rode toward the city down the slope of the Mt. of Olives.
The other gospels, Matthew and Mark show that when he finally got to the city the people went wild. They were so sure that he was going to set up his kingdom here and now. The praised Him for the miracles they had seen him do and others had merely heard about. They anticipated more to come in the future. They hailed him as the coming One, the king possessed of divine authority.
When it became apparent that Jesus was not going to fulfill their hopes, they turned away from him.
Another side of the king showed His love for the people, his concern over their fate, and the hardness of their hearts. He was still outside the city and still outside their hearts.
I wonder how the people got in such a position to have hearts that were so hard, eyes that couldn’t see anything spiritually before them, and ears that couldn’t hear his call to them. It could be because they said, “No,” to him so often because they wanted to go their own way. It could be because they refused to repent and turn from their sins. Maybe they allowed a whole accumulation of unforgiveness and bitterness to build up over the years and there was no room for His peace to come into their lives.
STORY: A scientist tells how that in the course of his experiments in the mountains, he used to be lowered over a precipice. He would step into the basket, and the men would lower him for his work; but whenever they lowered him they would always test his weight to see if they could lift him again. One day, they let him down farther and farther than ever before, until all the rope at their command was exhausted. When his day’s work was done, he would give the signal and they would draw him up. But on this night, when they took hold of the rope to lift him, they could not do so. They tugged and pulled and strained, but they could not manage it, and he had to wait until they got additional men to pull him up. The scientist says that the reason they could not lift him was because they failed to take into consideration the length and weight of the rope. I know why an older person has a hard time to surrender. It is because he must always lift against his past refusals. You say "No," and your heart is hardened; you say "No" again, and your will becomes stubborn, and if you are finally lost, the responsibility is not with God. --J. Wilbur Chapman
Had they have just said, “enough is enough” and turned to Him. But they didn’t. He wept over their stubborn and rebellious attitude. Does he weep over ours today?
3. Our Jerusalem: Jerusalem symbolized the entire nation. It was a spiritual and political capital. We have Jerusalems today--the various towns we live in. If Jesus were to ride into our town what kind of a reception would He get from various groups of people. Would He be welcomed with open arms, would He be held at a distance, or downright rejected?
How would He be treated by the media, by the elected officials, by the people at the local bars, by church people? What kind of a reception would He get on your street and at your home? Would you recognize Him? Would you welcome Him gladly?
I wonder, would He weep today over you or me? How would we react if we were in a Palm Sunday parade like these people were?
Would we understand His mission or also have totally different expectations. If he does not live up to our expectations, do we turn away from Him and go our own way. Are we too busy with our own priorities to welcome Him into our lives?
CONCLUSION: Luke’s scripture ends with, “...you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”
How often do we not recognize His coming to us either. But today is the day of salvation, now is the appointed time. On this Palm Sunday you can make a decision for Him rather than against him. You can allow Him to come into your Jerusalem. To bring the peace that He came to bring. He can open your eyes and your ears to His mission so that You will understand His thoughts.
The Cricket and the Coin
Two men were walking along a street in a busy city. One man was very interested in the things of nature. As they walked along, the naturalist said, “Did you hear that?”
“All I hear are the cars and the people,” said the friend.
“Listen, don’t you hear it?”
“No,” came the answer again. The first man looked around and nearby he found the little cricket that was making the noise he heard. After finding his little friend from nature, the man reached into his pocket and took out a quarter and let it drop on the sidewalk.
Immediately some of the people around him felt their pockets to see if they had lost any change, while others looked around for the lost money. The noises of the city smothered the sound of nature, but the sound of a coin was heard immediately.
We hear the sounds we want to hear, the sounds of the things that are important to us. We turn a deaf ear to all other things.
Jesus said to the people, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Mark 4:90.
Let us Pray:
