Once again, good morning from SEBC. I hope this message finds you all doing well. I want to encourage you all to hang in there. I can’t wait until we turn on the news and hear, “The Corona virus has been beat.” But today finds us all still being urged to stay at home and, would you believe it, Palm Sunday has creeped up on us.
This day is the day leading into Holy Week just before Easter. It’s sad that we can’t be together on this special day but in our hearts, we are together. So, let’s worship together now on this Palm Sunday.
Palm Sunday reminds me of the little boy who was sick on Palm Sunday and had to stay home from church with his mom. His father went on to church and when he got home, he was holding a palm branch. The little boy was curious and asked, “Why do you have that palm branch, dad?”
His dad said, “You see, when Jesus came into town, everyone waved palm branches to honor Him, so we got Palm Branches today.”
The little boy said, “Oh, man! The one Sunday I miss is the Sunday that Jesus shows up!”
As I said, today is Palm Sunday—the day where the Bible tells us that a whole city threw a parade for Jesus. How many of you have ever been to a parade where you stand and watch the bands, the floats, and the drill teams and more? Parades are one of those things that some people love while others can take them or leave them.
So, here’s a word of advice. If you are one who loves parades and wish they would last longer, just walk along with them and they will last twice as long. If, on the other hand, you are one who wishes that the parade would just get done, then walk in the other direction.
In a parade, you never know what’s going to come up next. Life is a lot like a parade. You never quite know what’s coming next. Am I right? This morning I want you to walk along with me as we relive that exciting day in Jesus’ life. Our Scripture passage comes from Luke 19:28-44.
This day that we celebrate is bittersweet. That’s because even though we celebrate Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, we know that Friday is coming. We know that with Friday comes the cross. We know that many of the ones in this crowd today will be exchanging their shouts of “Hosanna to the King” for the words “Crucify Him.” What we might not realize or remember is that Jesus knew what this week would bring as well.
Come with me now as we walk with Jesus on this special day. Let’s take a closer look at what took place on Palm Sunday. We begin our journey with Jesus in Luke 19:28. READ.
Jesus had just told some parables so that the people could realize in a clearer way the message that He was conveying. At this point in Scripture, Jesus had come from Jericho (about 19 miles away), where he healed blind Bartimeus, He had spoken with Zaccheus. He had just spoken the parable of the 10 talents, and now was on His way to Jerusalem.
READ v. 29-31. We’re not sure but it’s likely that Jesus had spent the night in Bethany, at the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, where Mary anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped them with her hair. Remember how upset Judas Iscariot got over that? He had a fit at the waste of expensive perfume.
If you are reading through the Gospel of John with us in your daily Bible reading, you just read a week or so ago in John 12: 5-7 where Judas asks, “Why wasn’t this ointment sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor? (but then the Bible tells us), He didn’t say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief. He was in charge of the money bag and would steal part of what was put in it. But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She has kept it for the day of my burial.”
“Bethphage” was the adjacent village to Bethany. It was here that Jesus sends 2 of His disciples on a mission to get a donkey. Now, this was unusual for Jesus. Throughout Jesus’ ministry, we always find Him walking—never riding an animal. WHY A DONKEY? Many of you already know the answer to that.
Well, there weren’t many horses in that area. Only nobility rode horses. But I don’t think that is why Jesus chose a donkey to ride. Horses were always associated with WAR. When the conquering king came into a city after a conquest, he would ride on a horse. BUT…when the king came into a city riding on a donkey, it was a symbol of PEACE.
Did you notice in verse 30 that this was a wild donkey—untamed it reads. It had never been broken. Now, if you’re from the country and have ever been around a horse or donkey that hasn’t been broken, you know what’s in store when you get on it. You probably won’t last long until you are thrown in the dirt.
But Jesus specifically asked for a colt that had never been ridden before…not broken for riding. Why? I think it was to show the submission of an unbroken animal to the MASTER. Jesus could tame the spirit of a wild animal. But what is sad, is that the stubborn hearts of the Jews wouldn’t be broken. They wouldn’t submit to Him in their hearts as their King.
Jesus didn’t own a donkey—He had to borrow one. If you will remember, the only material goods that He owned and He left behind, were the clothes on His back, and the soldiers gambled for them when they crucified Him. Jesus didn’t attach Himself to this world. And neither should we.
We need to remember that we’re just pilgrims here—sojourners passing through. The old Gospel song says, “This world is not my home. I’m just a passing through.” As Christian comedian Mark Lowry says, “This is just boot camp. Preparing ourselves for what is to come.”
We shouldn’t let this old world have such a grasp on us and we shouldn’t have such a hold on this world where we try to have more treasure here than in heaven. Remember, if our hands have such a tight hold on things of this world, one day we’re going to have turn it loose in order to take Jesus by the hand.
READ v. 32-34. Again, it’s not known for sure, but let’s speculate for a moment. Jesus could have apparently made arrangements with the owners of the donkey on a previous trip to Jerusalem and maybe told the owner, “the next time I’m in Jerusalem, I’ll need to borrow your donkey. I’ll send some men in to get them.” Now, we don’t know that for sure, but when they got there, they saw the donkey, just like Jesus said. The owners saw the 2 men untying the animal and naturally asked what they were doing. For all they knew, they were trying to steal the animal.
When they said, “The Lord needs it,” the owners knew it was Jesus who had sent them to get the animal. Apparently, or at least it seems, that they believed in Jesus as their Messiah, and were glad to offer it to Him. Let’s think about that for just a moment.
In reality, everything belongs to Jesus anyway. It was Jesus who spoke and the world was created with everything in it. We are just the stewards of all that God has allowed us to keep for Him. Everything we have, EVERYTHING, is to be put to the Master’s use. When you think about it, it’s kind of arrogant to refuse Jesus what is rightfully His in the first place. We shouldn’t be so covetous of our earthly belongings and withhold anything from Jesus.
READ vv. 35-36. The disciples put their coats on the young colt for Jesus to use as a saddle. Do you ever wonder why it was so important that this statement made it into Scripture? It was simply to show respect. In the OT times, to show their respect to a king, people would put their clothes down for the king to walk on them. The people did this when King Jehu of Israel was anointed king. (2 Kings 9)
Here, Jesus is coming into Jerusalem as the King of kings, and Lord of lords. He’s riding on a donkey as the King would come in peace. He will soon be given a crown—but in this case, a crown of thorns. You see, they weren’t interested in a king who came to set up a kingdom in their hearts. They didn’t want a prince of peace. They wanted a prince of war. They not only didn’t want to be under the authority of Rome, they also didn’t want to be under the authority of God’s Son.
We, too, still have that problem today in our world. We want a Savior who won’t allow anyone to go to hell. We believe in justice, as long as it doesn’t condemn us to hell. We don’t mind crowning Jesus as the Lord of our lives as long as we don’t have to submit to His rule and authority in our daily lives. Am I wrong? We want a Savior who will take us to heaven, but we don’t want to live for Him on the way there.
Jesus wasn’t the Savior they expected or wanted. Did you ever think that maybe we have the wrong expectation of Jesus? Maybe sometimes we think of Jesus as we do the Easter Bunny, or the Tooth Fairy, or Santa Claus all rolled up in one. Jesus came to rule your heart, to take control of your life, to be the Lord of your life. They didn’t want to submit to that. Neither do many people today.
READ vv. 37-38. What a celebration! The parallel passage to this found in Mt. 21:8 says, “A very large crowd spread their clothes on the road, others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road.” This was the kind of entry given to a conquering King, like the red-carpet treatment.
Let’s pause just a moment and think about the crowd that day. Among them would be people Jesus had healed. Maybe some of the thousands that Jesus fed. Many had seen His miracles, and listened to Him speak and teach. They listened and their lives had been changed. Jesus must have seen the mixture of expressions on their faces.
There were those who loved Him: maybe Bartimeus was there, the man who had received his sight, no longer in beggar’s rags. Maybe Zaccheus was there. He had paid back his debt to society, and had made his peace with God. And the lepers whose skin had been cleansed. Maybe even Jairus’ daughter was there, the girl Jesus brought back to life again.
Lazarus and Mary and Martha and Mary Magdalene, they were all there. Their lives reflected the love that was in their hearts for this man who had taught them and molded them and changed them.
But the evil and sinister faces were there, too. Faces with squinty eyes, just waiting for Him to say one wrong word or make a mistake. The Sadducees and Pharisees were there. They were supposed to be keepers of the law, the spiritual leaders. But Jesus had become so popular that they felt threatened. Filled with jealousy, they watched Him. The Romans were there, fearing a revolt and watching for any sign of rebellion against Rome. They were ready and waiting to crush any uprising. Jesus realized as He listened to their cries of Hosanna that it wouldn’t be long until they would be crying out, “Crucify Him,” or simply standing aside, saying nothing at all. Where are you in that crowd? READ vv. 39-40.
Here we see the jealousy of the religious leaders. They try to get Jesus to silence the crowd. Jesus knew that this moment in time was all in God’s plan. It was meant for the people to hail Jesus as their prince. And if they were silenced, the rocks would cry out Hosanna, meaning “save us.”
Yes…they were all there in Jerusalem; loving faces, sinister faces, anxious apostles. Crowds trampling almost one upon another, when suddenly the whole procession stopped. Maybe it was like rush hour traffic on the big city expressway. One car stops, then all the other cars stop, like a chain reaction. I can just hear the people way back in the crowd saying, “What’s the holdup? Why don’t you guys move on?” But the people who were closest to Jesus could see and they realized it was He who had stopped the parade. Then they saw His body begin to shake. Maybe at first, they thought He was laughing. That would seem natural with everyone else being so excited and joyful.
But then they saw His face, and they saw sorrow and tears. He wasn’t laughing, He was crying. Scripture tells us that Jesus often reacted emotionally when He saw the poor, when He saw people hungry or sick, when He saw people sinning. The Scriptures say repeatedly that “He had compassion on them.” READ v. 41. And that got my attention!
As Jesus passed over the Mt. of Olives, He had a full view of the city. He begins to weep. Why? Was it because He knew what was going to happen this Friday? Yes, He knew that, but I think that He wept because He knew what was ahead for them because they would reject Him and crucify Him.
It’s only reported 2 times that Jesus wept. He cried just before He raised Lazarus from the dead because He saw the unbelief and hurt in the hearts of Mary and Martha. NOW…He sees the unbelief in the hearts of the Jews. He knows what will happen because of the hardness of their hearts. He looked at the city of Jerusalem. He saw the mass of humanity crowding there and He realized the emptiness of their lives. They hadn’t heard the message of peace. They didn’t understand the purpose of His coming. READ vv. 42-44.
Why did Jesus say this? He is foretelling the future. Indeed, Jerusalem will be destroyed in 70AD as recorded in the history books when Titus comes and levels the city, slaughtering the inhabitants without mercy. Jesus came to bring them PEACE. But they didn’t know that the Son of God had visited them as “Jesus” to ultimately bring them peace. Not worldly peace as in wartime, but an everlasting peace in their hearts. That’s why Jesus wept.
Both Matthew and Luke tell us that sometime earlier Jesus looked down upon the city and had cried out, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem…how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.” (Matthew 23:37; Luke 13:34) Do you hear those words? YOU WERE NOT WILLING.
And that brings us to today. Just like the people of Jerusalem, we find ourselves in the presence of Jesus. I wonder what He sees when He looks at us? Does He see people worried about so many things—this virus pandemic, about income taxes, about job security, about their health, or lack of it? Does He see people who are so busy doing things here and there—so busy that they never bother to consider those things that are eternally important?
Or does He see people who recognize Him for who He is—the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God, our Savior. When He turns and looks into our lives, I wonder, will He weep once again because of what He sees? Or will we have the peace that passes all understanding as we respond to His outstretched arms and hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord”?
At the heart of Palm Sunday is Jesus’ desire to bring peace into our lives and to be willing to carry whatever burdens in life that are weighing us down. But the only way Jesus can complete His desire is for us to allow Him to march in and take over without having to fight us all along the way.
Jesus wants to make a “Triumphant entry” into your heart this morning. This day can be either TRIUMPH or TRAGEDY. Tears of SORROW, or tears of JOY. But it’s up to you. You have a choice to make. If you’ve never trusted Jesus as your Savior, I urge you, please do so today as we pray.
