Palm Sunday 2012

We have been studying the Gospel of Luke. Today is known as Palm Sunday. In celebration of Holy Week, we will look at passages in Luke pertinent to Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Resurrection Sunday. We will celebrate Communion today and this Friday. Today, we will look at what happened on that first Palm Sunday about 2000 years ago.

Before reading the passage, let us pray our commitment to God’s Word…..

Please open your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke 19.

In Luke 19, v11-27, Jesus just told a parable, a story with a lesson. The parable was about being good stewards of what has been given and belief in a Kingdom. Let us read our passage for today beginning with v26……

This story is significant enough to be in all 4 Gospels; Palm Sunday is also described in Matthew 21:8-11, Mark 11:7-10, and John 12:12-18. We will not take the time to read them, but we will incorporate key points stated in the other Gospels in this message. Here’s one of those key verses from John 12:14-16 - Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written: “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.” At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.

The Gospel Writer John quoted from Zechariah 9:9. And so, what happened that First Palm Sunday was foretold by God in the Old Testament. God also foretold that Jesus Christ is the King, Savior, Messiah!

Let us summarize what happened that First Palm Sunday.

Jesus instructed His disciples and they obeyed.

The disciples experienced exactly what Jesus said. Jesus knew everything!

Jesus rode a donkey into the Holy City of Jerusalem.

The true Disciples believed Jesus as King and praised Him.

Now look at v39-40…

What did those Pharisees believed about Jesus??

The “Pharisees” did not believe that Jesus is the Messiah God, but a good teacher!

What did Jesus mean when He said “if the people keep quiet about Him, the rocks will cry out!” ?? – Truth cannot be concealed!

Jesus affirmed what was being said about Him!

What biblical principles can we note for us from this passage?

First of all, who is the focus of this story?? – Jesus Christ is the focus of the story!

Jesus Christ is real! We need to ask ourselves,

1. Do I personally believe in Jesus Christ and what do I believe about Him?

Based on this passage about Palm Sunday, what can we say about Jesus Christ? Who is Jesus Christ??

a. a man

b. had authority

c. knew future

d. praised by people

e. Lord

f. Teacher

g. was written about as King and Savior

Believe in Jesus Christ as Savor, God, and King!

Secondly, how are we truly responding to Jesus Christ?

In our passage, we can note

2. Three types of responders to Jesus Christ:

Let us start with the one we definitely shouldn’t copy;

who shouldn’t we copy??

a. We shouldn’t copy the Pharisees who:

- didn’t worship Christ

- told Christ what to do

The second type of people we shouldn’t copy were the crowd. What was wrong with the crowd??

Yes the crowd praised God but look again at v37-38…..

They praised Jesus because of the miracles they had seen and they were looking for a King to free them from the Romans; many were praising for selfish gain.

Let us also note that after a few days from Palm Sunday, we hear another crowd in Jerusalem: "But the whole crowd shouted, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!” (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.) Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

b. We shouldn’t copy the crowd who just praised God for their own benefit.

This may sound like a “no-brainer” but think about this for a moment:

When we pray, how much praising do we really do in comparison to our asking for something? And when we worship, do we look for a n emotional experience, to feel good, or do we really focus on exalting God?

Who should we copy?

c. We are to copy the disciples who listened, obeyed, and truly worshiped Jesus Christ.

King Saul thought he truly worshiped God; but Samuel the prophet said to Saul, “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD?

To obey is better than sacrifice….”

And so in closing, two main points to ponder about on Palm Sunday:

Who is Jesus Christ to me personally?

How am I really worshiping Jesus Christ?

Please take a moment to quietly answer these two questions and pray to your Lord Jesus Christ.