Palm Sunday Sermon 1..
Palm Sunday…what questions would you ask?
Luke 18:28-48
14th April 2019 Paul Collins.
I have a photo for you to look at and take in…once you have done that, I want to ask you some questions…have a look at this.
What might be some of the questions you would now want to ask me, after looking at this photo of the parade?
- You might ask who the person is that everyone was coming to see?
- What makes them so famous that this crowd would turn out like this?
- Where are they going?
All great questions to ask when looking at something like this. Would you agree? Well today marks the start, of the last week that Jesus would spend with us on this earth, before His ultimate plan was achieved. Today is what we call Palm Sunday.
In Luke 19 it talks about a parade that was to happen - A parade that was prophesied 500 years earlier. If you had seen this parade as you were passing, then I’m sure, you would have had a few questions because there were lots of people watching, people chanting, laying down their coats and palm branches for the star of the parade to pass over
- Who was this parade for?
- What was its purpose?
- Where was it going?
- Why were people throwing coats and palm branches down?
I suspect if you had not known what was happening, then it would have been one of those times where you would have stuck around because of the curiosity that had been birthed in you. Let’s read this story from Scripture and as we do, think about being in the crowd and what questions might you ask…LUKE 19:28-44
If you didn’t know what was happening and you had come into the crowd, what questions would have come to your mind, do you think? …for me, I had heaps:
1) People were not just cheering, they were chanting (v38) - “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” - “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” (actually, that’s reminiscent of the Angels chants when He was born) Why were they chanting this…was this really the King?
2) Why were people throwing their cloaks onto the ground?
3) Why were the people throwing Palm leaves of all things onto the road? 4) Why was he riding a donkey and not a horse if he was someone of notoriety?
5) What was the purpose of the parade?
6) Where was it going to?
7) There was some real strange dialogue going on between Jesus and the Pharisee’s…what was that all about? 8) What say you were towards the end of the parade, and you saw Jesus going past…He was crying, wouldn’t that in itself, raise heaps of questions as to why He was crying?
Questions aye…we always seem to always have so many questions…and there’s nothing wrong with that. But as we come into the week leading up to Easter, let’s not leave some of the important questions unanswered. One important question for me that would need to be answered is:
A) Who is this man that’s coming through the crowd on a donkey or colt?
As we look at verses 30-34, it answers that question in two very subtle ways. 30 “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”
32 Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 They replied, “The Lord needs it.”
Firstly 1) Jesus sends two of His disciples to find transportation. It is actually very specific transportation. Jesus sends these two to find a colt that had never been ridden. Jesus did not own this animal nor did the disciples. The owner might question these two men as they are leading the donkey away. What was to be their answer? “The Lord needs it.” That word ’Lord’ is reserved as a title for God. ’Lord’ is reserved for one who exercises supernatural authority over all of Creation. So, the answer first and foremost is that He was the Son of God. This man on the donkey was God with Us, God in human form. If you had come into the throngs of these people at the parade, so you could see who was coming…could you imagine how you would feel when you heard the guy that was coming on the colt, was the actual Son of the Almighty God!!!
2) The second answer of who the main attraction was in the parade lies in verse 39. 39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” Look at how the Pharisees addressed Jesus. What did they call Him? They called Him ’Teacher.’ or Rabbi in other versions. Jesus was one that taught all about God and His Word and His desires for the people. He was indeed a teacher of God.
APP
As we lead up to Easter again this year…maybe each one of us could do well to stop again…and give due consideration to our Easter break that’s coming. The parade wasn’t based around eggs and bunny’s, it’s based around the Son of our Almighty God. Jesus had sold His life out, to telling others about His Heavenly Father, and He had taught many people about the times coming where they could enjoy an endless future inheritance, if they would only, but follow Him…and some of those at the parade, had done precisely that. To some of who were in the crowds that day, I guarantee, they were there because they had responded to Jesus invitation to follow Him and they trusted and celebrated the truth of this.
B) A second question I think that I would be wanting to ask is…so, here comes the Son of God…wouldn’t it strike you as a little strange and almost comical that the Son of Almighty God, who was to be their King, is coming through the parade, seated on a donkey of all things…that’s not very Kingly.
- So, Why a Donkey? Why didn’t He come seated on a white steed, adorned with gold saddle with highly polished saddle straps etc? Well He was riding a donkey for two reasons:
1) It was a fulfilment of Zephaniah’s prophecy that was made 500 years earlier. Zephaniah 9:9 says: Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Upon riding a colt into Jerusalem, it again reinforced the fact that Jesus was indeed the actual Son of God. When Jesus was seen riding into Jerusalem, the people of the day, the Pharisee’s, the religious people…they had all studied the Scriptures, in fact the old testament had been completed 450 years before Jesus was born. And so, the prophecies were well known, and a lot these people would have known that this could have well been, the fulfilment of Zephaniah’s prophecy right before their very eyes…and some of the people in that crowd that day, they didn’t want to believe (and sadly enough…a lot of those people were the religious ones that didn’t want to believe it) APP Some people back then and I’m sure some people today…try to ignore this fact. They try to ignore it because it means they would need to face the reality that this man Jesus, was indeed the Son of God and as such, it threatens their world and they know changes to their lifestyles would need to be made.
Easter is coming and many people are going to bury their heads in the sand this year, just like an ostrich, in the hopes that they don’t have to change their lifestyles. Many people have become so lost to their sinful nature now, they would rather close off to the truth of the gospel and try to ignore it because it compromises their desire to please their inner gratifications…how short sighted have we become.
2) But there’s a second reason He was riding on a colt, and that was because it was the symbol of Peace in the ancient Biblical world. When horses are mentioned in the Bible, they were always in relation to kings and war, while donkeys are mentioned in relation to peace and related to the common people.
APP
If only people could understand now, that if they were to accept the fact that Jesus is the God of peace, then the inner turmoil that many feel today, could actually be transferred for a peace that surpasses all their understanding, their situations and their circumstances. Praise God, it’s never too late to experience this sort of peace while you are on this earth because Jesus came for the common person, not the super spiritual, not the rich and the famous…He came to save you and He came to save me!!!
C) In a sense…this parade was a peace parade, celebrating common people and as such, that begins to answer another question I would have had if I had been in the crowd that day…What was the parade about? It was a parade that meant the King was arriving in Jerusalem and He was coming in peace and coming for the common person. Can you imagine the crowd, some of them knew this, others were trying to ignore this, and some that day must have been very confused. They had been waiting for the conquering King to arrive to bring an end to the suffering and turmoil they had been experiencing…and in comes their King, seated on a colt.
Their King had arrived, and in just in just 5 days’ time, He was about to enter a battle where he would ultimately conquer, but He was is doing it in a way that would have blindsided many and confused others. He was coming peacefully and even weeping…that doesn’t sound like a conquering King does it. What would you have thought if you had been in the crowd and seen Jesus crying as He came towards the city? You could have been excused for thinking the King of whimps had just arrived, but He was far from that, as we know. They were observing before them, their King of love who over the course of the next week would take on all the powers of Darkness and take the weight of our sins onto Himself, and then rise having conquered the powers of hell having secured a victory that would last forever. Welcome to the week leading up to Easter people…don’t miss what this time is about. And so, the final question that I want us to look at is…Where was the parade going that day? You could be forgiven for thinking that maybe this journey was taking Him to Jerusalem…geographically, you wouldn’t have been wrong, but actually…I believe the final destination of this parade was going to be a NEW Jerusalem.
If we had read to verse 48 of Luke 19 you would find that after arriving in the city, Jesus went to the temple and what did He see there? He saw corruption in the temple. He saw people buying and selling in what should have been holy ground. He saw people being cheated. He saw purposeful dishonesty in God’s house. Bluntly put…He saw sin. So, what did He do as a result of with He saw? Verse 45 records that He drove the sin out of the House of God and returned the temple to its created purpose. I hope that you know that Jesus’ ultimate destination was the cross. Luke records Jesus on the cross in chapter 23.
You see that is really where Jesus was going that day. Jesus knew marching into town the week before Easter, that it was going to end very painfully for him, and it would ultimately end with His death. He not only cleaned out the temple of sin, but He provided a way for every person to be cleaned of sin. And Luke then records Jesus’ resurrection in chapter 24.
The conquering King was not only known as a the One who won the battle, but He would be known as the one who won the battle for US as well!! Sunday came after the end of what might be classed as a very full week for Jesus. You see…the parade was the start of (not only) the hardest week of Jesus’s life, but also the start of the week where everything was going to come to a crescendo on the Sunday. Jesus’s life would achieve all that He had set out to and then, completion would come.
Conclusion into communion
So, I can think of at least three types of people who had watched Jesus riding towards Jerusalem that day:
One group was there because they had responded to Jesus invitation to follow Him and they trusted Him and celebrated the truth of who He was and had turned out to cry Hosanna as He rode into Jerusalem.
There were others who there who: tried to ignore the fact that Jesus was Gods Son, because it threatened their worldview and their pursuit of instant gratification and they knew changes would need to be made.
...and yet more who stood there, some of them would have been confused, wondering how they could have got the image of their conqueror so wrong.
If you were there that day, what group of people do you think would have represented you?
In fact, as we go into Easter this week, what group are you a part of right now?
If it’s either the second or third group…then why not consider doing something about it this Easter. Don’t let another Easter pass you by. Jesus rode into Jerusalem back then for you, as much as He did for anyone else.
He offers us peace in the midst of our crazy world, He offers us love rather than abandonment, and life rather than death, but it means dying to ourselves and our personal pursuits of everything this world has to offer.
You see…Today we remember the lead up to the cross and the way that death was defeated and what better way to do that this morning, than to turn your life back over to Him.
If you have walked away from the truth of who Jesus is, then NOW is the time to return to that truth.
We are going to remember the victory we have through Christ now by celebrating communion together.
If you are part of the group who has responded to following Jesus then this morning, you are invited to celebrate (not in a parade), but to celebrate by taking communion together as we stand in awe of the One who came in Peace, full of love and defeated the enemy at the cross.
If you are part of either of the other two groups then before taking communion, why not surrender your life back over to God…don’t let another year pass where you purposefully turn your back on God…He’s waiting for you to return to Him.
