“Palm Sunday and the Pandemic”
April 2, 2020
Luke 19:28-44
“After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “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. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”
Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?”
They replied, “The Lord needs it.”
They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.
When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
“I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”
When I began to work on this Palm Sunday sermon I did not know what to expect. I didn’t know if there would be anyone to hear it or not. I didn’t know if we would have Church or not. We were three weeks into our Coronavirus pandemic. As we entered this plague to our nation and world, President Trump thought by Easter we would probably be back to normal and running better than ever. That, apparently, is not to be. And as I thought about all of this in light of the greatest days of the Christian faith, I wondered if this plague would steal the praise of Jesus. I wondered if this virus would do what the Pharisees couldn’t do – steal the praise of Jesus. Jesus told them that if they (the crowd) keeps quiet that the stones would cry out. Often, in my imagination, I wondered what that would look like. What would it look like for the stones to cry out? I don’t know – but I believe it is possible – because Jesus said it.
In the reading of this wonderful story of entering Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, which we call the “Triumphant Entry,” I thought of four things I want to share with you this morning. The first is that 1) Jesus WILL be praised. The Pharisees couldn’t prevent it. The Scribes and the Sanhedrim couldn’t prevent it. Not even death or the Devil could or can prevent the praise that is due Jesus. And, Certainly, this virus pandemic will not prevent it either. On the contrary, I believe it will cause the world to praise the Name of Jesus. As we see the hand of God at work in the midst of this plague; as we see and hear of miracle after miracle done in the lives of people; as we see the eradication of this scourge on our nation – people WILL humble themselves and bow and see God like they never had before. And Jesus will receive His praise.
Another thing I noticed about the “Triumphal Entry” is that 2) it did not catch Jesus by surprise. Listen to this again,
“As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “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. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’” Luke 19:29-31
How did Jesus know there would be a donkey colt in the village ahead of them? If it was behind them, we could assume that he had made arrangements with someone. But it was ahead of them where He had not been. Besides that, how did He know that the owner would let that colt that no one had ever ridden before be used without question? And besides that - why would someone accept such a flimsy excuse? Can you picture it in your mind?
“Hey! Why are you untying my donkey?!” “Uh, the Lord needs it.” “Oh, okay.”
Jesus is God. Jesus knows things. The need for an unbroken donkey colt did not catch Him by surprise and neither did this pandemic. A month ago, nobody knew about it. The politicians didn’t. The doctors and medical personal didn’t. Trump certainly didn’t. But, you know what? Jesus did. Nothing catches Him by surprise. He is the Lord. He knew that this Palm Sunday the little children would not be lining up with their little palm branches and giving pageants and plays to honor Him. He knew that those mega churches would be closed and would have to do whatever they do via the internet or cellphones or some other unusual way. He knew. And in spite of all obstacles – He would be praised. Let’s make sure that happens.
A third thing I want to share with you this morning about this “Triumphal Entry” incident is the 3) Compassion of Jesus. The record of the account from Luke’s perspective brings it out the best. Listen again,
“As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”
Notice again, that Jesus was not caught unaware of what would happen in the coming days. The future holds no surprises for Him. That is why we can entrust ourselves to Him. He promises to shield us. He promises to protect us. Those that dwell in the shelter of the Almighty have nothing to fear from plague or pestilence. They have nothing to fear from any army or enemy nation. Jesus is our shield and able to protect us in any circumstance.
But the thing I wanted you to see is Jesus as He looks over the city of Jerusalem. Can you picture it in your mind’s eye? I wonder if He could see all that horrible stuff happening. Enemies building embankments; encircling the city; hemming it in on every side; throwing men, women and children off the walls to their deaths. What He saw brought Him to tears. More than that – it made Him weep for the people. It made Him weep for the sinful city that was to be the death of Him.
At times I have wondered what it must be like for God to be aware; to know everything. He knows every heart. He is aware of every sin. All the horrible things people do to each other – Jesus knows – and how it must grieve His heart. Imagine being able to see the terrible crimes people do; the horrible perverted, demonic things. I get overwhelmed even when I do some marriage counseling and there is anger and angst going on. My blood pressure goes up; my heart races and my stomach fills with acid. I don’t like it. God is aware of all of that. I have even apologized to God for us people being so evil. He said our hearts are inclined to sin continually. He almost destroyed man from the face of the earth because of it. Fortunately, He didn’t but there is a negative side to compassion. Many of you saw the “Passion of the Christ” and know the word ‘passion’ means pain. It means suffering. A person who is compassionate shares another person’s pain. Our compassionate Savior looked over the sinful city and felt the pain of those poor souls.
He feels your pain, too. Ever tear you have ever shed – He saw. The Bible reveals that He not only values them – but collects them. The Bible says,
“You number my wanderings; Put my tears into Your bottle; Are they not in Your book?” Psalm 56:8
“for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Revelation 7:17
God is compassionate. He sees your tears. He feels your pain. He loves you.
One last thing I want to remind you from this account of the “Triumphal Entry”. And that is, 4) The King is coming! That is what all the hoopla was all about. The King had come! The Messiah had arrived! The One in whom Israel was waiting for had come! And the people responded. They lined the streets with loud, cheering, joyful voices.
Read it with me again.
“When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” Luke 19:37-38
Notice the crowd began to joyfully praise God in LOUD voices and shout, “Blessed is the KING!” They recognized Him as the promised King who was to come and the universe was declaring His glory and recognizing His Kingship. Now, most people missed it. The majority didn’t know the Word of God well enough to get it. They did not have a sufficient relationship with the Father or if they even had one – they were not intimate enough with Him to communicate with Him. They were not familiar enough with the prophecies to understand – so they missed the greatest event of their lives. But their ignorance did not prevent the King from coming. He came and those who loved Him – His disciples – crowned Him as King. A week or so later He would receive another crown – a crown of thorns – and the wicked world in its ignorance and unbelieve would actually fulfill prophecy and declare Him to be the King. They gave Him a crown – a crown of thorns. They declared Him King in multiple languages. They put a sign over His head that declared and proclaimed Him to be King of the Jews.
“And an inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew:
THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.” Luke 28:38
The King was crowned. The King received His coronation. The people of His day were expecting a conquering King – not a suffering servant. They didn’t know that the King had to conquer sin and death before He could set up rule. But He Will come. I think the time is very near. It appears to me that we are living in the end times. We are close to His triumphant second coming. Paul talks about it. He says,
“But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.
For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17
God does not want us to ignorant about His coming or about what happens to those who die (or sleep) in the Lord. They will rise first to meet Jesus in the air – then we who are alive will be caught up with them to meet the Lord in the air. From then on we will always be with the Lord. I believe that we will return with Jesus immediately and He will set up His Millennial reign and rule with a rod of iron. We will be at His side and reign with Him. Don’t miss it! It’s going to be awesome!
What I want you to understand, this unusual Palm Sunday, in the midst of the pandemic, is that Jesus is still on the throne. And 1) He Will be praised. Even if the rocks have to do it. Jesus will be praised and glorified. 2) Nothing catches Him by surprise. He knows what is going on before it ever comes to be. 3) He is compassionate. He loves you and feels your pain and rejoices in your victories. 4) He is coming again. The King is coming. He will restore our land as it was meant to be – righteous and holy.
Peter asks the question, “Since you know these things, what should you do?” Read it with me.
“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.
Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.” 2 Peter 3:10-13
It’s a good question. What kind of people ought you to be? He even answers it for us. “We ought to live holy and godly lives as we look forward to the that day.”
This Palm Sunday, would you give praise and honor to our King? Would you bow before Him and acknowledge Him as your Savior and as your Lord? Make Him King of your life and with His help, live holy and godly lives. That is our task. That is our mission. That is the instruction for us. That is our desire. May God’s grace keep you where His will leads you.
