Why Did the Cheering Stop?
First Preached at Allen Park Baptist Church 3/20/2005
Scripture:Matthew 21:1-11
As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: “Say to the Daughter of Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you,gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”
The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest!”
When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?” The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
The streets of Jerusalem were buzzing and things would only get worse as the week went on. The city of Jerusalem whose population normally stood around 60,000 swelled as the Passover approached and this year would be no different. Rumors circulated that a young rabbi from Galilee would be there—the one who supposable raised a man named Lazarus from the dead. This Jesus drew crowds wherever He went. Unbelievable things were said about Him—that He had fed 5000 men with 5 small loves of bread and two fish, that He could make the blind see, the deaf hear, and the lame walk. He was not only a healer but also a man who could command demons to come out of people and who claimed to have the authority to forgive sins. His teaching and ways were revolutionary to say the least—so much so that an unlikely alliance of the Scribes and Pharisees and even of Jew and Roman would be forged to rid the world of this young troublemaker.
While the establishment and the powers to be saw Jesus as a real threat, the crowds saw Him differently. Some perceived that a real live prophet of God was in their midst. They marveled that a compassionate man who did the miraculous things He did was not a man after personal gain. Here was a simple man who identified with them. He was not ignorant of their pain and suffering that disease, poverty, and oppression brought. He was a paradox to them as He spoke of God yet was a friend of the destitute, downcast, and the delinquent—so very different from the religious leaders who only engaged the masses to strut like peacocks before them to show their righteous standing with God. How very different was He from them.
Others saw Jesus as a potential deliverer. He had healed others of their infirmities and diseases—of this there was no doubt, but they wanted something grander than a person who worked on such a limited scale. If He could deliver one blind man, and ten lepers, and five-thousand hungry men from what afflicted them, why not deliver a whole nation from all its ills and troubles?
Others saw Him as a fake, a charlatan, a person who worked slight of hand magic before the ignorant and untrained—one who would eventually use the masses to achieve His own personal ambition and goals. Yes, He was subtle and no, He hadn’t given anyone proof of His sinister intentions yet. Jesus was a sly one they thought. But they knew it would only be a matter of time before Jesus would tip His hand, and then His pseudo-religious, caring, self-effacing act would be seen for what it really was—a ploy for ambition and power.
There were some who just didn’t know enough about Him to make any judgment. Sure, they had heard the stories and all, but it was so far fetched and unbelievable to be true they thought. It wasn’t that these people were necessarily cynical by nature like those who felt it was all a sham, but they just didn’t know because they had not been personally touched by Him. They didn’t question that He has made an impact on the lives of others—it was just that He hadn’t made any impact on their life. Maybe what they said about Him was true and maybe it wasn’t. Only time and personal experience would tell they thought.
In contrast to these, there were a few people who saw Jesus in a different light altogether. They saw Him as more than a miracle worker and reformer. They understood that He was called to be much more than a religious leader and teacher. He was preacher and prophet, sacrifice and priest, and servant as well as king. In short, He was the Messiah that God had promised Israel centuries ago. Surely the deliverance that the nation of Israel had longed hoped and prayed for was at hand for David’s Greater Son would lead the nation into world prominence again.
The crowd that watched Jesus that Sunday morning was made up of many types of people including believers, critics, curiosity seekers, cynics, skeptics, undecided, and those not interested—strangely not all that different from crowds today. But then as He approached from Bethpage, the excitement of the crowd grew especially as they saw Him riding on a colt of a donkey knowing that God’s Messiah would come in such a way as Zechariah had prophesied some five centuries earlier.
As He approaches Jerusalem, the city erupts with excitement and the crowd gets caught up in the moment. They start casting down their cloaks on the road as well as freshly cut palm branches symbolizing the peace and victory they hoped He would bring to them. They yelled out the words from Palm 118:26, a Messianic Psalm, which talked about the success and celebration God’s people, would experience when He visited them with His salvation. Yet on this happy joyous occasion when everything seemed to be going so right, Luke tells us in chapter 19 verse 41 of his Gospel that Jesus wept.
Why?
Because Jesus knew the clamoring and cheering of the crowd would not last. He knew He had to come to Jerusalem for one purpose and one purpose only and that was to be crucified. He understood then as now what really resides in the heart of humanity. He knew the devotion of the crowd was a fickle thing and would only last as long as He would please and serve them. The crowd was looking to be cared for and to be catered to—this was the price He had to pay if He were to continue to reap the accolades of the crowd. He knew the crowd expected Him to grant its every wish and whim. He knew as soon as He failed to meet their expectations the crowd would turn on Him as quickly as it turned to Him.
Why did the cheering stop?
You see, the problem with the crowd then as it is now is that the crowd failed to realize that Jesus did not come to serve them but to save them. He did not come to tell them what a nice group of people they were but to call them to repentance. He told them that there was a greater good than to look after oneself and that God demanded to be first in their lives rather than third, fourth, or fifth.
We celebrate the love and mercy of God. We want to experience His salvation and deliverance. We ask God to bless us and grant us success. But I ask you, are we all that different from the crowd that greeted Him on that first Palm Sunday? I think not.
You see crowds are comprised of people and people are by nature self-absorbed beings who wonder what others can do for them rather than looking outward to others to help meet their needs.
Jesus knew this. He knew the cheers He heard that Sunday would turn to jeers on Friday. He knew those who called for His coronation on the first day of the week would call for His crucifixion on the sixth. He knew that the crowd’s acceptance of Him would turn into rejection in less than 120 hours.
The crowd wants a crown without a cross. The crowd wants a God who would be at their beckon call and finds the idea of living to serve Him and His causes repugnant. The crowd accepts a genie-god who will grant as many wishes as it has breaths but rejects the one true God who calls us to a life of self-denial and service.
Often we who are inside the church encourage those outside of it to come in and join us. The real disappointment to those who venture into our fellowships is that they find that we are not so much different from they—that we are as guilty of trying to manipulate God as people outside the church are in trying to manipulate others for their own ends. What is frustrating to these seekers is that they are tired of being manipulated and manipulators and they look to us to see if we really act different than they do and when they find out that the vast majority of us don’t then they rightly judge us as being irrelevant and hypocritical.
As I speak to you this morning I have mainly talked about the reception that Jesus got that first Palm Sunday but I would be amiss if I didn’t challenge you to take a look at how you relate to Jesus. Are you guilty of believing that God simply exists to make your way easy and to bless you simply because you ask Him to? If so, you need a change of view. We are His creation and are here to serve Him. Everything created revolves around Him and His purpose. Are you listening to Him as He speaks to you as to how you fit into His plan or are you busy letting Him know what you want Him to do?
Maybe you’re frustrated with God because He didn’t give you what you last asked Him for or that you didn’t see God establish your plans. Perhaps you are angry with Him because things just haven’t gone your way lately. If so, it is time to step out of your self-centeredness and let Him take up His rightful place on the throne of your life.
Jesus wept over the city because He was aware of the crowd’s ulterior motives, that their devotion was as thin as a piece of gold foil-that one little poke would show how flimsy and substantial their faith was. When He looks at your faith and mine, does He see ulterior motives on our part? Is our faith resilient and strong when tested and tried or is it paper-thin? Does He see that we are devoted to Him at any cost and that He surely is more precious than the diamonds, gold, and silver that the chorus we sing claims He is?
Do we come to God only when we need something or when it is convenient for us to do so? If we do, then we make Jesus cry just as the first Palm Sunday crowd did 1972 years ago. If our faith is based on selfishness as theirs was, then we will quit cheering for Him too.
