Sermon Central
-
The Four People Of Palm Sunday
Contributed by Sean Boucher on Sep 13, 2019 (message contributor)
Summary: Who was there on Palm Sunday - and who wasn't? How do they relate to us today? See https://vimeo.com/91820669 for video of this message.
The 4 Types Of People Of Palm Sunday
(9) When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.
Mark 11:1-10 ESV
(1) When they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples
(2) and said to them, "Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it.
(3) If anyone says to you, 'Why are you doing this?' say, 'The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.'"
(4) And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it.
(5) And some of those standing there said to them, "What are you doing, untying the colt?"
(6) And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go.
(7) And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it.
(8) And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields.
(9) And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
(10) Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!"
Luke 19:39-40 ESV
(39) And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples."
(40) He answered, "I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out."
John 12:20-21 ESV
(20) Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks.
(21) So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."]
What we're going to do is to look at some of the people who were involved in what we call Palm Sunday. You've heard the Bible reading today, and perhaps many of you are familiar with the story. But I wonder if you've ever thought about who the people were that were there that day. We’ll see together that there were 3 types of people that day – Worshippers, Onlookers, and Outsiders. I don't want us, however, just to stop at thinking about them 'in the past'. What I hope we'll also be able to do is relate them to us today in our every day life, no matter who we are - and the life of those around us. (Let's pray as we begin this journey).
------------
Well the first group of people I see in this story today is those who I'm going to call 'Worshippers'. I think it might be helpful to give you a bit of context about what was happening at this time to help you see these people as they were & relate them to you today.
In today's passage you might have caught a reference to 'worshipping at the feast'. Let's talk about this feast - also called 'The Passover'. This was a celebration that had existed amongst the Jews for over 1,400 years. It was one of 3 major festivals held every year. It was HUGE.
It was kept in remembrance of the Lord's passing over the houses of the Israelites (Exodus 12:13) when the first born of all the Egyptians were destroyed, so that all of God's people were saved. One author says it was 'a way of uniting the nation to God on the ground of God's grace to them'.
The festival was especially celebrated in Jerusalem where today’s Bible reading occurred. Everyone in the city took in visitors to their houses, while those who couldn't fit camped outside in tents. At one time the number of people celebrating this in Jerusalem numbered 2,700,000. Try and picture that in your mind. That is the numbers we're talking about here.
All of these people had come to celebrate. One of the ways they celebrated was with a greeting to one another as they headed towards Jerusalem. It's the one we read of here.
"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!". These are lines from one of the Psalms of Ascents (Ps 118:25-26) sung as a welcome to pilgrims coming up to Jerusalem. As such, this is an entirely appropriate thing to do as Jesus is coming up to Jerusalem.
But there is more involved here. The cry of Hosanna! is a word that had become a greeting or shout of praise and actually meant "Save!" or "Help!". Forms of this word were used to address the king with a need. Furthermore, the palm branches the people carried were symbolic of a victorious ruler. The people were welcoming a King.
