Palm Sunday: Countdown to Resurrection
John 12:12-19 (NLT2)
12 The next day, the news that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem swept through the city. A large crowd of Passover visitors
13 took palm branches and went down the road to meet him. They shouted, “Praise God! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the LORD! Hail to the King of Israel!”
14 Jesus found a young donkey and rode on it, fulfilling the prophecy that said:
15 “Don’t be afraid, people of Jerusalem. Look, your King is coming, riding on a donkey’s colt.”
16 His disciples didn’t understand at the time that this was a fulfillment of prophecy. But after Jesus entered into his glory, they remembered what had happened and realized that these things had been written about him.
17 Many in the crowd had seen Jesus call Lazarus from the tomb, raising him from the dead, and they were telling others about it.
18 That was the reason so many went out to meet him—because they had heard about this miraculous sign.
19 Then the Pharisees said to each other, “There’s nothing we can do. Look, everyone has gone after him!”
What is Palm Sunday?
- Palm Sunday marks the beginning of what is called Passion Week
- Passion Week (Holy Week) is the time from Palm Sunday to Easter (Resurrection) Sunday
- It is referred to as Passion Week because of the emotional and physical suffering Jesus went through on our behalf… demonstrating His great love for us
- I think it’s important to note … the suffering and love Jesus has for us is not something that we just reflect on… one week out of the year
- Rather it is something that we remember throughout our lives… and our celebration of what Jesus did is reflected by how we live…
- We are no longer under the bondage of sin because of what took place during this week… and our lives should reflect that freedom … on a daily basis
- Because of what took place during this week… We are no longer walking around with a guilty verdict on our heads… doomed for the eternal judgement of God… and our lives should reflect that weight of guilt… being lifted off us
- So… while it is a celebration this week… it is only an extension of our daily celebration of Jesus Christ
Let’s talk about this first day of Passion Week called Palm Sunday…
Here’s the context…
- Jesus had just left a meal with Lazarus, Mary and Martha and was walking with His disciples to Jerusalem
- As they came to the Mount of Olives, directly outside the gate of Jerusalem… He instructed two of His disciples to go into a certain village and find a donkey with its colt… and bring both to Him
- The disciples did as they were told… then they lay their outer robes on the colt and Jesus sat on it
- As they were coming down the mountain to the gates of Jerusalem… the word spread that the man who raised Lazarus from the dead was riding in on a colt
- The people ran out to meet Him and cut down palm branches… laying them in the street as Jesus rode by
- They were shouting…
“Matthew 21:9 (KJV)
9 …Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.”
- All these things taking place… are actions and words reserved for a king
- Up until that day… Jesus had not announced Himself as a king
- He had more or less… stayed in the background and avoided accolades
- Up until that day… He had used imagery and signs to show who He was
- But on that day… He allowed His disciples to place their clothing on the colt for Him to sit on… something only done for a king
- On that day… He allowed the crowds to address Him as a king would be addressed
- On that day… He did not shun the accolades… but seemed to embrace them
- What was it about that first Palm Sunday that He decided… this is the day… I begin to reveal who I am in a more public way
- This is the day I begin to show My reason for coming in a less mysterious way
What was so significant about this day? It started a countdown to the event all of creation had been waiting for… the moment the curse of sin would be defeated
And I think to do it justice in understanding this, you must begin in the book of Genesis and make your way through the Bible
- Beginning in Genesis we have the creation of man… everything is perfect
- And then we have the fall of man instigated by the temptation of the serpent
- Everything looked hopeless because man had been separated from His Creator… he had come under the curse of sin… and the judgment of God
But in the midst of the hopelessness God gave a promise with hope...
Genesis 3:15 (KJV) Speaking to the serpent… He said… There will come a day when …
15 …I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.
- This is a direct reference to a day when the serpent would be defeated by the Seed of a woman… that Seed is none other than Jesus Christ
- Palm Sunday started the final countdown to that day
Then you go to Abraham when God called Him and promised him…
Genesis 12:2-3 (NLT2)
2 I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.
3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”
- This was a promise that… every culture… every color… every tribe and tongue on every continent… would be blessed through Abraham’s lineage… that blessing was none other than Jesus Christ
- Palm Sunday started the countdown to that day
Then we have to stop by Mount Moriah and listen in as God had spoken to Abraham and commanded him to sacrifice his son Isaac
- As the knife is coming down in Abraham’s hand… the Angel of the Lord stopped him and Abraham looked up and saw a ram that God had directed… a ram who took Isaac’s place as a sacrifice… a ram that symbolized the day a sacrifice would be made for all the nations of the earth to be blessed by… that sacrifice was none other than Jesus Christ
- Palm Sunday started the countdown to that day
Then you fast forward and find Abraham’s descendants … the tribe of Israel… enslaved in the land of Egypt… no hope of escaping their bondage… until the night God commanded each family to slay a lamb and sprinkle it’s blood on the doorposts of their homes… and in doing so… their families were saved from the judgment of God poured out on the land of Egypt… pointing to a day when the final Lamb would be slain… whose blood would wash away the sin of man and save them from the wrath of God
- That Lamb was none other than Jesus Christ
- Palm Sunday started the countdown to that day
Then we must look at the sacrificial system of the tabernacle
- It was centered around the blood of animals…
- Leviticus explains why…
Leviticus 17:11 (KJV)
11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.
- In God’s eyes… blood is life
- When an animal was sacrificed… and the blood was poured on the altar… it was the life of the animal for the life of the sinner
- The blood declared life to everyone it was shed for
- But that’s not all…
Hebrews 9:22 (ESV)
22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
- They sprinkled blood on the utensils used in the tabernacle
- They sprinkled blood on the tent itself
- They sprinkled blood on the priests
- Moses even took a branch of hyssop … dipped in the blood… and sprinkled it on the people
- And everything the blood touched was considered holy unto the Lord
- In other words… the blood of the sacrifice not only gave life… but when sprinkled on you… it made you a living vessel that now belonged to God… you became sanctified … set apart for His purpose
- Not only that … but before the High priest could enter the Holy of Holies… which was where the Presence of God dwelt… the blood of a bull had to be shed and then sprinkled on the Mercy Seat
- So… the only way into the presence of God was by the shedding of blood
However… the OT blood of the animals was nothing more than a temporary substitute … that had to be done over and over again
- But on the day Jesus was sacrificed… His blood gave eternal life… His blood marked us as the eternal property of God… His blood gave us eternal access into the presence of God… His blood did what an animal’s blood could not do… His blood forever washed away our sin… never to be remembered again… everything changed on the day His blood flowed down that old rugged cross
- Palm Sunday started the countdown for that blessed day
There’s another place we need to look… it’s in the writings of the prophets… and we will look at two…
First… Isaiah’s prophecy…
Isaiah 53:1-12 (NLT2)
1 Who has believed our message? To whom has the LORD revealed his powerful arm?
2 My servant grew up in the LORD’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him.
3 He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.
4 Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins!
5 But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.
6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the sins of us all.
7 He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth.
8 Unjustly condemned, he was led away. No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream. But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people.
9 He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave.
10 But it was the LORD’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the LORD’s good plan will prosper in his hands.
11 When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins.
12 I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier, because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.
- Palm Sunday started the countdown for the day the Suffering Servant would take our place on the cross
- Palm Sunday started the countdown for the day the Rejected One would pay the price for our acceptance
- Palm Sunday started the countdown for the day the sinless Son of God would carry our sin to the cross
- Palm Sunday started the countdown to the day when the innocent Lamb of God would suffer as a guilty criminal so our guilt could be removed
The second prophet is Zechariah…
Zechariah prophesied about 500 years before that first Palm Sunday… He said…
Zechariah 9:9 (NLT2)
9 Rejoice, O people of Zion! Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey— riding on a donkey’s colt.
- Palm Sunday is significant because God ordained it to be the day that Jesus would be proclaimed as a victorious King
- But what we don’t want to miss… is what the prophet pointed out…
- He said… I see a victorious righteous King riding into Jerusalem… but He is not riding in as a victorious king would do…
- He’s not riding in on a beautiful stallion… He’s not riding in with pomp and circumstance
- He’s not riding in showing off His power
- He’s riding in on the colt of a donkey… Humble and meek
- Why… because He came to conquer sin… not man
- He came as a servant… to offer His body for our salvation
- He came not to destroy… but to give hope
- He came as the Prince of Peace… offering all who would trust Him … a peace that passes all understanding
- It is a peace that will not only keep you in this life… but it will keep you in the life to come
- He came to destroy the works of sin and to give the kind of life that outlasts this world’s difficulties
- Palm Sunday speaks of Jesus Christ as the One who conquered death, hell and the grave… a battle that you and I cannot win without His help
Which leads us to another countdown taking place right now… one that is directly related to the one I’ve talked about today…
- It is the countdown to the day you and I stand before the humble King who rode into town on a donkey and gave His life for mankind’s redemption…
- But when that moment comes … He will not resemble a meek and mild servant… But rather a Judge of judges… One who will judge the nations of the earth
- What is His judgment based on… Did you receive Me as the only One who can save you from the wrath of God…
