AS A COUNTRY, WE HAVE RECORD OF 44 LEADERS WHO HAVE TAKEN THE OATH OF OFFICE TO BE INAUGURATED AS PRESIDENT. PALM SUNDAY IS SIMILAR! WE RECOGNIZE THAT CHRIST’S ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM IS LIKENED TO AN INAUGURATION, WHERE JESUS FULFILLS PROPHECY AND IS UNVEILED AS KING AND MESSIAH.
JESUS ENTERS THROUGH THE EASTERN GATE AS IF TO SAY MY ARRIVAL SIGNIFIES THAT THE OLD COVENANT OF MOSES HAS REACHED ITS CONCLUSION AND THE NEW COVENANT THAT WILL BE ESTABLISHED IN MY OWN BLOOD IS AT HAND.
AS WE REMEMBER THIS TRIUMPHANT ENTRY OF JESUS CHRIST, LET US REMEMBER ZECHARIAH 9:9, “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.”PROPHECY IS FULFILLED RIGHT BEFORE THEIR EYES!
THAT IS GOOD NEWS! HOWEVER, UP UNTIL THIS POINT, JESUS HAS ONLY OFFERED A GLIMPSE INTO WHO HE TRULY WAS WHILE AMONGST THE PEOPLE. HIS TIME HAD NOT COME AS WE SEE AT LEAST THIRTEEN REFERENCES IN THE GOSPELS WHERE JESUS STERNLY WARNED HIS DISCIPLES OR TOLD THOSE HE HAD HEALED, “DO NOT TELL ANYONE,” OR “DO NOT TELL ANYONE ABOUT ME.”IT WASN’T TIME! AT LEAST, NOT YET!
PALM SUNDAY, HOWEVER, IS THE MOMENT WHEN JESUS SAYS, “IT’S TIME!” THERE IS NO NEED TO HOLD BACK ANY FURTHER. THE TRUTH IS NOW REVEALED! PROPHECY IS FULFILLED! JESUS IS THE LONG-AWAITED MESSIAH AND OUR TRUE KING!
THAT IS WHY WE SHOUT WITH JOY AND CELEBRATE CHRIST THE KING WHO ENTERS INTO OUR “PERSONAL JERUSALEM,” OUR HEARTS, WHERE HE SAVES US FROM OUR SINS, OUR HUMANITY, OUR DARKNESS, AND OUR DEATH!
ST. AUGUSTINE EMPHASIZED THIS WHEN HE WROTE, “FOR CHRIST WAS NOT THE KING OF ISRAEL SO THAT HE MIGHT EXACT A TAX OR EQUIP AN ARMY WITH WEAPONRY AND VISIBLY VANQUISH AN ENEMY. HE WAS THE KING IN THAT HE RULES MINDS, IN THAT HE GIVES COUNSEL FOR ETERNITY, IN THAT HE LEADS INTO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, FOR THOSE WHO BELIEVE, HOPE AND LOVE.”
PALM SUNDAY IS A VERY INTRICATE DESIGN OF EVENTS WHERE EVERY DETAIL OF GOD’S PLAN PLAYS OUT PERFECTLY PIECE BY PIECE AT JUST THE RIGHT TIME….PASSOVER!
SO THE SEQUENCE OF EVENTS BEGIN! JESUS ARRIVES IN BETHANY, WE ASSUME AT THE HOME OF MARY, MARTHA AND LAZARUS, TO HOLD OUT FOR A FEW DAYS IN PREPARATION.
WHILE THEY WAIT, JESUS SENDS OUT TWO DISCIPLES TO GET THE DONKEY FOR HIM TO RIDE INTO JERUSALEM. IN VERSES 2-3 JESUS GIVES THE INSTRUCTIONS, BUT ADDS THAT IF ANYONE SHOULD ASK, TELL THEM “THE LORD HAS NEED OF THEM.”
THE WORD “LORD” IS THE WORD “KYRIOS” WHICH IS A TERM USED FOR BOTH A PROPERTY OWNER OR MASTER, AS WELL AS THE PRIMARY NAME FOR GOD IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. THAT’S A CLUE! SO, BY SAYING THE “LORD HAS NEED” IS ACTUALLY SAYING THAT IF ANYONE OBJECTS, THE OWNER, GOD HIMSELF, NEEDS THE ANIMALS. HERE WE SEE THAT THIS WAS TRULY GOD’S PLAN ALL ALONG!
THEN, WE MUST ASK, WHY A DONKEY? HISTORY TELLS US THIS IS NOTHING NEW! RIDING A DONKEY FOR CEREMONIAL ENTRY INTO A CITY WAS AN ACT OF KINGSHIP. 1 KINGS 1:33-44, WE READ OF KING DAVID HAVING HIS SON, SOLOMON, ANOINTED AS THE NEXT KING. “AND THE KING SAID TO THEM, “TAKE WITH YOU THE SERVANTS OF YOUR LORD AND HAVE SOLOMON MY SON RIDE ON MY OWN MULE, AND BRING HIM DOWN TO GIHON. AND LET ZADOK THE PRIEST AND NATHAN THE PROPHET THERE ANOINT HIM KING OVER ISRAEL. THEN BLOW THE TRUMPET AND SAY, ‘LONG LIVE KING SOLOMON!’”
THE DONKEY IS A SIGN OF PEACE! THEREFORE, A MAN WHO RIDES A DONKEY COMES IN PEACE AND ISN’T LOOKING FOR WAR. ALSO, FROM A ROMAN INTERPRETATION, HE IS A KING WHO IS NOT LOOKING TO CONQUER NOR LOOKING TO REBEL AGAINST CAESAR!
THE PEACE JESUS SYMBOLIZES IS THE PEACE HE WISHES TO GIVE EACH OF US! JOHN 14:27, “I AM LEAVING YOU WITH A GIFT—PEACE OF MIND AND HEART. AND THE PEACE I GIVE IS A GIFT THE WORLD CANNOT GIVE. SO DON’T BE TROUBLED OR AFRAID.” THE DONKEY SYMBOLIZES PEACE AND THAT JESUS IS KING!
NEXT WE HAVE PALM BRANCHES AND PEOPLE SPREADING THEIR CLOTHING OUT ON THE ROAD! FIRST THE CLOTHING BEING LAID WAS THE EQUIVALENT OF OUR PRACTICE TODAY OF “ROLLING OUT THE RED CARPET.”
THE ACTION OF PUTTING YOUR GARMENTS IN THE ROADWAY WAS NOT ONLY A SIGN OF RESPECT FOR A KING, BUT ALLOWING THE KING TO STEP ON THEM WAS AN ACT OF SUBMISSION TO HIS AUTHORITY! THEY WERE PROCLAIMING JESUS AS KING AND SHOWING SIGNS OF SUBMITTING TO HIS KINGSHIP!
NOW, THE PALM BRANCHES WHICH SYMBOLIZED JEWISH NATIONALISM AND VICTORY! PALM BRANCHES WERE TO THE JEWS OF THAT DAY WHAT THE STARS AND STRIPES AND THE RED-WHITE-AND BLUE OF OUR FLAG SYMBOLIZES FOR US TODAY.
JUST LIKE WE WOULD WAVE OUR FLAG WITH PASSION ON THE FOURTH OF JULY, THE JEWS WAVED THEIR "FLAG," THE PALM BRANCHES, SHOUTING "HOSANNA" WHICH MEANS “SAVE NOW!”
YES, THEY WANTED JESUS TO SAVE THEM! THEY JUST HAD A DIFFERENT UNDERSTANDING OF SUCH SALVATION! THE PEOPLE WERE THINKING THAT JESUS WAS THEIR POLITICAL LEADER WHO WOULD SAVE THEM FROM ROME INSTEAD OF A SPIRITUAL SAVIOR WHO COULD SAVE THEM FROM THEIR SINS.
LAST, BUT NOT LEAST, IS WHAT THE PEOPLE ARE SAYING AND QUESTIONING ABOUT JESUS. THE CROWD CHANTS LOUDLY, “HOSANNA” BUT THIS TIME THEY ADD “TO THE SON OF DAVID.”
THE SHOUT OF “HOSANNA” IS PROFOUND AS THIS IS A WORD THAT IS ONLY DIRECTED TO KINGS OR RULERS. SO, BY STATING “TO THE SON OF DAVID” THEY ARE CONFESSING THAT JESUS IS NOT JUST ANY KING, BUT THAT HE IS THEIR LONG-EXPECTED MESSIANIC KING.
THEIR SHOUTS OF JOYOUS PRAISE ACTUALLY COME FROM PSALM 118:25-26, “LORD, SAVE US! LORD, GRANT US SUCCESS! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD. FROM THE HOUSE OF THE LORD WE BLESS YOU.” SO, BY SAYING “HOSANNA” ALONG WITH PSALM 118, THEY ARE LITERALLY SHOUTING, “GOD, SAVE THE KING!”
THE FESTIVITIES LEADING UP TO THE PASSOVER CELEBRATION IS SO INTENSE THAT VERSE 10 TELLS US, “WHEN JESUS ENTERED JERUSALEM, THE WHOLE CITY WAS STIRRED ….”THE WORD FOR “STIRRED” IS WHERE WE GET THE WORD “SEISMIC!” THIS MASSIVE CELEBRATION WAS SO THUNDEROUS THAT IT WAS VIBRATING THE GROUND! THEY COULD SEE, HEAR, AND NOW FEEL THE EXCITEMENT.
WHAT SOME WERE SAYING MADE OTHERS CURIOUS ENOUGH TO START ASKING QUESTIONS. AS IT HAS BEEN SAID, “EMOTION IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR KNOWLEDGE” AS MANY STILL DIDN’T GET IT. THE QUESTION POSED IN VERSE 10 IS “WHO IS THIS?” THE ANSWER, IN VERSE 11, IS THAT HE IS “JESUS, THE PROPHET FROM NAZARETH….”
LITTLE DID THEY KNOW, THEY WERE STILL CONFIRMING THE TRUE IDENTITY OF JESUS! IT MAY APPEAR, AT FIRST, THAT THEY ANSWERED WRONG IN CALLING HIM A PROPHET RATHER THAN MESSIAH BUT THEY STILL GOT IT RIGHT!
THEY FULFILLED THE WORDS OF DEUTERONOMY 18:15, 17-18, “THE LORD YOUR GOD WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM AMONG YOU, FROM YOUR FELLOW ISRAELITES. YOU MUST LISTEN TO HIM…. THE LORD SAID TO ME: “WHAT THEY SAY IS GOOD. I WILL RAISE UP FOR THEM A PROPHET LIKE YOU FROM AMONG THEIR FELLOW ISRAELITES, AND I WILL PUT MY WORDS IN HIS MOUTH. HE WILL TELL THEM EVERYTHING I COMMAND HIM.”
SOME GOT IT WHILE OTHERS WERE SIMPLY CAUGHT UP IN THE MOMENT OF THE GREAT FESTIVITIES LEADING UP TO PASSOVER. AS WE KNOW, THERE WERE OTHERS SEETHING WITH HATRED FOR JESUS AND WE HOPING FOR THE FIRST CHANCE TO HAVE HIM KILLED.
REGARDLESS OF MOTIVES, THE BOTTOM LINE STILL BOILS DOWN TO THE QUESTION FOUND IN VERSE 10, “WHO IS THIS?”THE SAME QUESTION THAT EVEN JESUS ASKED IN MATTHEW 16:15, “…BUT WHO DO YOU SAY I AM??”HOW DO YOU ANSWER? ON THIS PALM SUNDAY, WHO IS THIS MAN UPON THE DONKEY TO YOU?
THIS MAN IS JESUS THE CHRIST. THAT MEANS JESUS IS THE FORE-ORDAINED ONE, BEARING THE OFFICE, AND ACHIEVING THE WORK DESCRIBED IN PROPHECY. JESUS CHRIST, THE REDEEMER, THE HOPE OF ISRAEL AND OF ALL HUMANITY. THIS, FOR US, IS THE FIRST CHRISTIAN CONVICTION AND PROCLAMATION. JESUS IS BOTH LORD AND CHRIST. WHO IS THIS MAN? HE IS JESUS CHRIST.
WHO IS THIS JESUS CHRIST? JESUS CHRIST IS THE SON OF GOD. JESUS HAS BEEN DECLARED THE SON. PSALM 22:7, “I WILL DECLARE THE DECREE: THE LORD HAS SAID TO ME, YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU.”
JESUS HAS BEEN UNDERSTOOD AS THE SON. JOHN 6:69, “ALSO WE HAVE COME TO BELIEVE AND KNOW THAT YOU ARE THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD.”
JESUS HAS BEEN WITNESSED AS THE SON. MATTHEW 3:17, “AND SUDDENLY A VOICE CAME FROM HEAVEN SAYING, ‘THIS IS MY BELOVED SON, IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED.’”
JESUS HAS BEEN PREACHED AS THE SON. ACTS 9:20, “IMMEDIATELY HE PREACHED THE CHRIST IN THE SYNAGOGUES, THAT HE IS THE SON OF GOD.” JOHN 20:31, “BUT THESE ARE WRITTEN THAT YOU MAY BELIEVE THAT JESUS IS THE CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD, AND THAT BELIEVING YOU MAY HAVE LIFE IN HIS NAME.” WHO IS THIS MAN? HE IS JESUS CHRIST THE SON OF GOD.
THAT ONE EVENTFUL DAY IN THE YEAR 33 A.D. THAT WE NOW CALL “PALM SUNDAY” STILL CALLS US TODAY TO STOP AND ASK OURSELVES WHO THIS ONE CALLED JESUS REALLY IS TO US.
WE NEED TO PAUSE AND THINK ABOUT WHAT GOD WAS DOING IN AND THROUGH JESUS CHRIST IN THIS REVELATION OF HIS SON. GOD WAS CALLING EACH AND EVERY GENERATION TO MAKE THEIR DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO ACCEPT JESUS AS THEIR MESSIAH.
REMEMBER, THE PEOPLE OF JESUS' DAY MISSED THE WHOLE POINT BY A MILE! THEY WERE TOO BUSY LOOKING FOR A MILITARY LEADER TO KNOCK THE WEIGHT OF ROMAN RULE OFF THEIR SHOULDERS. MOST OF THEM JUST DIDN'T GET IT.
SO THAT IS WHY WE CELEBRATE PALM SUNDAY BECAUSE WE "GET IT,” DON’T WE?! WE NOT ONLY “GET IT,” BUT ALSO ACCEPT JESUS CHRIST FOR WHO HE CLAIMED TO BE; THE MESSIAH. WE KNOW THAT JESUS CHRIST IS TRULY THE SACRIFICIAL LAMB THAT TOOK AWAY OUR SINS AND THE SINS OF THE WORLD. WE REJOICE AND SHOUT "HOSANNA" BECAUSE HE HAS SAVED US SPIRITUALLY FROM THE DEBT OF OUR SINS.
SO, BEHOLD AND REJOICE GREATLY PEOPLE OF GOD! SHOUT WITH JOY! FOR YOUR KING HAS COME! HE IS THE RIGHTEOUS ONE, THE VICTOR! YET HE IS LOWLY, RIDING ON A DONKEY’S COLT. WHO IS THIS MAN? THIS MAN IS JESUS CHRIST, THE WORD MADE FLESH, SON OF ALMIGHTY GOD.
JUST THINK, TODAY, YOU CAN NOT ONLY “GET IT” BUT “ACCEPT IT” BY CRYING OUT “HOSANNA” FOR JESUS TO SAVE YOU ON THIS VERY PALM SUNDAY! JUST REMEMBER THE WORDS AND BE ENCOURAGED BY ROMANS 10:13, “FOR “EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”
