Palm Friday: A Sermon For Passion Sunday

Palm Friday: A Sermon for Passion Sunday

John 18:22 NKJV

And when He had said these things, one of the officers who stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, “Do You answer the high priest like that?”

We now come to the Sunday which has two names in the Lectionary. It is called Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday. Often these themes are alternated. The one celebrates the Triumphal Entry of Jesus. Children often will come down the aisles of the church on Palm Sunday waving palm branches in remembrance of a day almost two thousand years ago when Jesus of Nazareth descended from the Mount of Olives on the Jericho Road. There was much excitement as Jesus came on a donkey colt in fulfillment of the prophecy of the prophet Zachariah. Not only did they straw the road with their clothes, they also waved the Palm branches. The excitement was seen from the city of Jerusalem. Many of them came out to meet Jesus and escort Him into the city. But not all. The Pharisees were concerned that the Romans who were in the Fortress of Antonio might notice. they were especially on guard at Passover time, because it served as a sort of sacred 4th of July to them. They remembered during this week that Yahweh had freed them from slavery in Egypt. From time to time, some became overwhelmed by this day, and felt that he had been called to be the Messiah who would free them from Roman captivity. It seems probable to me, that one of these messiah figures was Barabbas who had been arrested for “stasis” (insurrection) with two others. They were sentenced to be crucified, but Jesus would take the place of Barabbas.

When we reflect on Palm Sunday, it would be good to know that the last time that Israel was an independent state was almost a hundred years earlier. The Maccabees had overthrown the Greeks and set up a new kingdom. As a kingdom, they could mint their own coins which had a palm frond on one side of the coin. so the palm branch serves as a symbol of liberation. This was the expectation of the crowd that day, that this Jesus would overthrow the hated Romans and the traitorous Jewish priesthood who had assisted them. So when Jesus went to the Temple and cleansed it, it would have been seen as popular among the common Jews, even though the Sadducee’s would think quite differently as Jesus had upset their religious racket which brought them much money.

The first clue that something was going wrong with their ideas was when Jesus mourned over Jerusalem and prophesied the city’s destruction rather than its liberation. Jesus even confused His disciples, even though He was quite clear with them of the purpose of His coming to Jerusalem, to be rejected, suffer, and die for sin and sinners. He preached a different liberation than was expected.

We can see this juxtaposition of themes in the 118th Psalm. In one place it says Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD.” You will notice that this is what was quoted by the crowd when Jesus came into Jerusalem. This is no accident. On the approach to the city, the crowds would recite Psalms 112-118 in order as they came to Jerusalem. So when jesus cleared the Mount of Olives which is also important in prophecy in the Book of Zachariah again, the people put what they were saying with the arrival of Jesus. they has put two and two together. But they arrived at the wrong answer. They should have reflected on Psalm 118:22:

Psalm 118:22 NKJV

The stone which the builders rejected

Has become the chief cornerstone.

(For a treatment of Psalm 118, read my sermon “The Day the LORD has made in this sermon archive.)

You might wonder, then, why I named this sermon “Palm Friday?” I am making a play on words here in the English tongue. It might not work in another language. The word for the open hand in which Jesus was slapped is the word “palm,” in English. This is the same spelling as that of the palm tree. On Sunday, they waved palm branches in joy at Jesus. But by Friday, he was struck with the palm of the hand in utter rejection and contempt. He was first struck at Jesus’ hearing before Annas who was previously High Priest and father-in-law to Caiaphas. This act of contempt was contrary to the Law, something which Jesus told the soldier who had struck Him. There were many illegalities at the trial. they tried Him at night and in secret. They suborned false witnesses to testify against Him. But they could not find the evidence to convict Jesus. We do not know who the members of the Sanhedrin were that convicted Jesus other than Caiaphas. The body was made up of both Sadducees and Pharisees, There were many who did not care for the Law itself, but they were fearful to make this known to the people, lest they be stoned. The trial had to have at least the veneer of legitimacy. there may have been some fair-minded individuals who were actually interested in the Law being followed. Nicodemus has shown reservations earlier in John 11. He felt that Jesus had the right to be heard. Was Nicodemus a member of the Sanhedrin? Joseph of Arimathea? So Caiaphas, knowing they only could convict Jesus if Jesus testified against himself. So He is asked if He was the Son of the Blessed? Jesus did not have to testify against Himself but could not deny the truth. So He answered. There could only be two responses by the Sanhedrin. If Jesus’ statement was true (It is), then they should have dropped all charges and fell before Him in worship. The other response was that He had committed the utter blasphemy. The Sanhedrin chose the latter.