Today is Psalm Sunday when we remember and celebrate that Jesus Christ came to Jerusalem as King. But he came to Jerusalem as a king with a difference. So today we will look at the following:
Jesus Christ fulfilled the Old Testament prophesies about his entry into Jerusalem.
The crowds cried out to be saved.
Jesus Christ came to Jerusalem not to be crowned king but a crown was thrust upon him.
Jesus Christ fulfilled 3 Old Testament prophecies as he entered Jerusalem. These are found in Zech 9:9, the first part of Ps 118: 26, and Isa 61:11.
These verses state:
Zech 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.”
Ps 118: 26 says; “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” and lastly,
Isa 61: 11 says; “The Lord has made proclamation to the ends of the earth: “Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your Saviour comes! See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.” Therefore, three separate Old Testament passages were fulfilled by Jesus as he entered Jerusalem.
Why do I point this out? I point this out because I want to show that if God has said something, we can be reassured that He will carry it out. And so today we can rest assured that he will fulfil His promises to us. In the Bible, God has promised many things to us, and just now I want to state 10 promises from God for us today:
1. God promises to strengthen you.
Paul said at Eph. 3: 16; “For this reason, I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches, he may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being.”
2. God promises to give you rest.
Matthew wrote in his gospel in Matt 11:9; “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
3. God promises to take care of all your needs.
Paul wrote to the Church at Philippi, at Phil 4:19; “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”
4. God promises to answer your prayers.
In Matt 7:7 we read; “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”
5. God promises to work everything out for your good.
Paul wrote to the church in Rome and said; “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
6. God promises to be with you
In the Old Testament, in the Book of Judges we read; “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
7. God promises to protect you.
The Psalmist wrote at Ps 92:2; “I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
8. God promises freedom from sin.
Again in the Book of Romans, we read in Rom 6: 22; “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.”
9. God promises that nothing can separate you from Him.
Then further on in Rom 8: 8 we read; “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
10. God promises you everlasting life.
Finally, John wrote this famous verse in John 3: 16; “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Next, the crowd called out Hosanna. It’s interesting to note that the account by Luke says that “the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen”. This is what we traditionally hold close to our chest when we celebrate Palm Sunday. We like the celebration; we like the thought of Jesus being brought on the crest of a wave of rejoicing. John’s account even has a dig at the Pharisees by highlighting the Pharisee’s despair when they said “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after Him”. This is great, we see our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ as the focus of all the celebrations. But these versions don’t show the complete picture. There is something more serious in Matthew’s account. Matthew adds the sentence “Hosanna, to the Son of David.” And here, we see a different dimension coming out. We see the crowd, looking to Jesus as their Messiah, a man anointed by God, a king riding into town coming to get rid of the Romans. And this storyline is reinforced when the crowd shouts Hosanna.
Today, we take this shout of Hosanna as part of our praise. But back in the times of Jesus, this was not praising God. It was a call for help. You see the word Hosanna, is an interjection. It’s a Hebrew word with 2 root words namely “yasa” and “na”. “Yasa” means to save or to be delivered, and “na” means now or please. So you can see a picture emerging of a people under the cosh by the Romans and they are crying out for help. Save us now!
Jesus came to save but this salvation was completely different from the salvation they wanted. The crowds wanted freedom from the Romans but Jesus promised to give us freedom from sin and death. To emphasise this point we see that Jesus came to Jerusalem riding on a donkey. He didn’t come riding on a warrior horse, a majestic stallion. He came riding on a humble donkey. This wasn’t a march into the city looking for a fight, but he came into the city with a promise of peace with God. Even the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate found him innocent when insurrection charges were brought against Jesus. No, Jesus’ Kingdom is the Kingdom of God, not a physical kingdom in Judea.
Lastly, Jesus did enter Jerusalem as king. Yes, he was a descendant of King David and so he could rightly take the throne from Herod Antipas who was actually on the throne. But he wasn’t after power. He had all the power that he needed. He could have called down 12 legions of angels, 54,000 angels, and taken control of Jerusalem. But that was not his aim. He didn’t want a king's crown, but he was given a crown made up of thorns. Matt 27: 27 to 31 states; “Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. They spat on him and took the staff, and struck him on the head again and again. After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.” So no, Jesus didn’t sit on a throne but he hung on a cross.
To conclude, 5 days before the Feast of Passover, Jesus entered Jerusalem, but within a week, the crowds were gone. Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, and he was denied 3 times by Peter, another of Jesus’ disciples. Today, we are His disciples and the question is this? Are we going to flee when the tough get going, are we going to betray or deny him when we are asked tough questions? I sincerely hope not. If anything, when Jesus entered Jerusalem it showed us that we can be reassured that God is on our side when he hears our every cry. He is with us when we go through the Valley of Death experiences. We don't need to continue to live in sin but we can break out and live a life of freedom. When we face hardships we know that God will never leave us nor forsake us. And in the end, we will be with him forever. Next, it is through Jesus Christ that we have peace with God, and through God, we can have true peace in the world. And lastly, Jesus Christ is king, but we need to make Him Lord and not put up objects in place of Jesus. We must look at God and what is said in the Bible and change our behaviour. Not see our actions and then believe or not believe what the Bible says.
