Opening illustration: Watch a video clip on contemporary ’Palm Sunday.’
Let us read Matthew 21 and pick up the story from verse 1 going down to verse 11.
Historical Background: Even today church folks get confused with Palm Sunday. On this Passover day, when Jesus came riding into town, there had already been thirty-two political riots … in five years. In other words, it was political pandemonium. It was chaos. The town was ready to blow up with any spark. We are told that three to five million people were jammed into that town, and it was ready to ignite.
Jesus rode on a jackass into town. The crowds wanted him to ride on a tall white horse, dignified in the sunlight or on a chariot of war, glistening in its golden trim. But Jesus rode on an animal of peace, not of war. The crowd wanted him to grasp a sword in his hand and wave that sword to show what he and his followers would do to the Romans, but he had an olive branch of peace in his fingers. The crowds wanted him to give enflamed and impassioned oratory to inspire them into revolution; they wanted the shouts of soldiers, but they heard only the songs of children. And Jesus? Jesus didn’t say a word. Not a word as he rode into that city.
The crowd was chanting at the top of their lungs, “Hosanna to the Son of David, Hosanna to the King.” And slowly, and gradually, the Hosannas became quieter and quieter and quieter. Then nothing! By afternoon, another chant had begun, almost in a whisper, “crucify him,” softly, softly, louder, louder and finally bursting with power, “Crucify him. Crucify him. Crucify him. Crucify that man. He’s a bloody imposter. A fake! He’s no king, that’s for sure.” They had wanted a warrior on a warhorse and instead they got a carpenter on a jackass, and so they killed him and put a poster above his head, “King of the Jews.” It was a big joke! That’s the way it was on that first Palm Sunday, on that first Passion Sunday.
What did the Palm Sunday Path entail?
To understand whether it is Palms or Passion for us today, let us break down today’s passage –
1. The Obedient Disciples [vs. 1–3, 6]: To obey God means to willingly respond to His wishes and demands. Obedience is the positive side of repentance. God’s claims on our lives are born out of His Fatherly love and wisdom. Thus, true obedience is the intelligent choice to comply with God’s loving intentions. Obedience to God is never negotiable. When I belong to Christ and His kingdom I am most my own. Bound to the kingdom, I walk the earth as a free man or woman. Low at his feet I stand straight before everything. This is important, all-important for if it were otherwise the kingdom proposal would be a hopeless proposition. But if the kingdom proposal brings freedom now and ultimate triumph then it is the only hopeful proposition. All other proposals are disqualified. The evidence of knowing God is obeying God. The golden rule for understanding in spiritual matters is not intellect, but obedience. The immense pleasure, which the Holy Spirit works in us, is to obey our Master and not a specific mission. If we obey God it is going to cost other people more than it costs us, and that is where the sting comes in. If we are in love with our Lord, obedience does not cost us anything, it is a delight, but it costs those who do not love Him a good deal. If we obey God it will mean that other people’s plans are upset, and they will mock us with it - ‘You call this Christianity?’ We can prevent the suffering; but if we are going to obey God, we must not prevent it, we must let the cost be paid. Your obedience has a direct influence, on the life of others thus resulting in a chain reaction in our obedience or disobedience to God.
Here we see in the passage that two of Jesus’ unidentified disciples did and accomplished (to the letter) what He had commanded them to do. Do we? Or do we make some changes or edits to what He has commanded for us to do. Example: Love the Lord God … Loving your neighbor, blessing your enemies …
2. The Humble Donkey [vs. 4, 5 & 7]: And who would accept the answer, ‘The Lord needs it.’ My reply to that statement probably wouldn’t be very charitable – and indeed, what the owner of the donkey says isn’t repeated in Luke’s gospel. But the next verse begins, ‘They brought it to Jesus’, so there is the implication that the owner gave up the donkey willingly for the Lord’s work. So why did he do it? Why did this man accept the – let’s face it – somewhat dubious statement of ‘The Lord needs it’ as an explanation for someone leading away a valuable animal? Some theologians believe that the owner’s reaction shows a pre-arranged agreement between Jesus and the man who had what he needed. In this case, the phrase ‘The Lord needs it’ becomes a sort of password to let the owner know that the right people had come to take the donkey. Others believe that it is indicative of Jesus’ authority – he asked, and it was given to him. The original Greek seems to support this – the Greek word for Lord used here could mean both a man in authority and the Lord God – so even though the disciples were ambiguous about who needed it, it was given to them. Interestingly, in Greek, the phrase translated as ‘The Lord needs it’ literally means ‘The Lord of it has need’ – meaning ‘The Lord’s donkey is needed’. Jesus was telling the donkey’s owner that all things belong to Him, and that he had need of this particular possession at this time. The fact that it was unridden meant that it was pure, and it was suitable for a sacred purpose. Tradition held that if a king rode into a city on a horse, his purpose was war, but riding into city on a donkey was a symbol of peace.
It’s about the donkey colt Jesus rode that day. That animal had some important lessons for us-
(a) The donkey was available: ready to be used, the master was willing, the donkey was willing too even though it was untamed, but I believe he knew His creator and master sat on him.
Are you available to God whenever He needs you?
(b) The donkey was submissive: It had never been broken – the Bible doesn’t record that it protested or rebelled. It was not trained to bear burden. No matter what God asks of us, are we submissive to His plans and will for us?
© The donkey was unafraid: Can you imagine a donkey never ridden and, in a crowd, – no kicking and no pandemonium. A miracle! He was surely aware – the One Who sat on him controlled the entire universe. When things around us go haywire, are we trustingly fearless?
It is the last week of Jesus' earthly life. The crucifixion is six days away. Jesus is coming to Jerusalem despite the danger, because there are some things he must say, things he must do. Perhaps the most important thing that he said publicly, he said symbolically. He rode a donkey into town showing his humility rather than a horse or a camel. He did not come to wage a war and conquer the external but to conquer our (internal self) hearts and lives.
3. The Flattering Crowd (Fan Club) [vs. 8–9]: Imagine what the disciples must have been thinking. As they approached the city, looking across the Kidron Valley at the shining city of Jerusalem, and as they watched Jesus preparing to climb on that donkey's back, a string of excitement snapped within them and freed their pent-up hopes. They knew that Jesus was perfectly capable of walking, and not so uppity as to think he should ride. Jesus never did anything without a purpose, so he must be saying something. Gradually it dawned on them that what Jesus was accepting the title of "King." The disciples had longed for this, but wondered if it would never happen. Once they realized what was on his mind, though, they did all they could to make this a truly royal procession. They draped their cloaks over the donkey's back to make Jesus' seat more comfortable and to make the donkey look more presentable. The road was already crowded with pilgrims, and many of them knew about Jesus, so it was not hard for the disciples to stir up the crowd's excitement. "Jesus has proclaimed himself king!" Soon the road was jammed with pilgrims and locals alike. They joined the disciples in laying their cloaks across the path to show Jesus honor. They broke branches from the palm trees and waved them in the air, and spread them on the road. While the cloaks and the palm branches make this a royal procession, the cheers of the people are even more significant.
Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest! The word "Hosanna" is a Latinized transliteration of a Hebrew phrase that means "please save!" or "help!" It occurs in Psalm 118:25, just before the other phrase used here, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" Both of these quotations were used in the liturgy of the Jewish feast of tabernacles, when the people would commonly wave branches in the air and pray for God's help.
It is interesting to me that there were two times in the Gospel of John where the crowds tried to force Jesus to be king. Only twice. Once, in chapter six, where Jesus had fed the five thousand people. When Jesus caused that much food to be freely available, those people wanted to make him king. Free food? Much food? Yes, let’s make that guy king. The crowd tried to force Jesus to become king after feeding the five thousand, but the Bible says he would not be their king and he withdrew into the country. The second time that the crowd tried to force Jesus to be king was on the Palm Sunday we are talking about. Jesus had worked big miracles, raising Lazarus from the dead and then healing the two blind men. If Jesus had that kind of power to heal, the crowd wanted to make him king. So once again, the crowds tried to force him to be their kind of king, and he refused. Jesus disappointed them twice.
Similarly in today’s context, if you appease the crowd they will make you king, idol or whatever you desire. There were different kinds of groups in this crowd, but the most appealing and superseding was the one that shouted Hosanna, Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord! Do we follow the crowd or where the majority leans? OR are we a people that will stand alone for the Lord even though everyone may stand against us. Who is on the Lord’s side?
4. The Passionate Prophet [vs. 10–11]: As we study this scene, we must remember that the story never ends. As Jesus entered Jerusalem, the people all about took notice. Matthew tells us that "the whole city was stirred and asked `Who is this'?" The crowds answered, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee." When we read this story, we also ask, "Who is this?", and in particular, we must ask "Who is Jesus to me?" The problem with palms is that once you cut the branches from the tree, they don't live long. The problem with Palm Sunday is that the excitement of that crowd soon faded, and when Good Friday rolled around, many of the same voices who shouted "Hosanna!" were also shouting "Crucify Him!" Their love for the Lord was shallow and based entirely on their hope of what exciting things he could do for them. Too many pilgrims would get in behind Jesus on the road to the throne, but they would not follow him on the way to the cross. They would wave palms before the coming king, but they would not obey the Suffering Servant. This day in Jesus' life was significant in many ways. Jesus knew that the end of his earthly ministry was near. It was time to do what he had come to accomplish. It was now or never. This was Jesus' opportunity to be obedient to the will of God, and to accomplish the purpose set out for him. He was passionate to save that which was lost but the cost would be His blood on the cross. He was getting ready to go for it. Are we ready to bear that testimony?
Illustration: Some years ago a book was written by Gene Smith, a noted American historian. The title was "When the Cheering Stopped." It was the story of President Woodrow Wilson and the events leading up to and following WWI. When that war was over Wilson was an international hero. There was a great spirit of optimism abroad, and people actually believed that the last war had been fought and the world had been made safe for democracy. On his first visit to Paris after the war Wilson was greeted by cheering mobs. He was actually more popular than their own heroes. The same thing was true in England and Italy. In a Vienna hospital a Red Cross worker had to tell the children that there would be no Christmas presents because of the war and the hard times. The children didn’t believe her. They said that President Wilson was coming and they knew that everything would be all right. The cheering lasted about a year. Then it gradually began to stop. It turned out that the political leaders in Europe were more concerned with their own agendas than they were a lasting peace. At home, Woodrow Wilson ran into opposition in the United States Senate and his League of Nations was not ratified. Under the strain of it all the President’s health began to break. In the next election his party was defeated. So it was that Woodrow Wilson, a man who barely a year or two earlier had been heralded as the new world Messiah, came to the end of his days a broken and defeated man.
It’s a sad story, but one that is not altogether unfamiliar. The ultimate reward for someone who tries to translate ideals into reality is apt to be frustration and defeat. There are some exceptions, of course, but not too many.
It happened that way to Jesus. When he emerged on the public scene he was an overnight sensation. He would try to go off to be alone and the people would still follow him. The masses lined the streets as he came into town. On Palm Sunday leafy palm branches were spread before him and there were shouts of Hosanna. In shouting Hosanna they were in effect saying “Save us now” Jesus. Great crowds came to hear him preach. A wave of religious expectation swept the country. But the cheering did not last for long. There came a point when the tide began to turn against him. Oh, you didn’t notice it so much at first. People still came to see him, but the old excitement was missing, and the crowds were not as large as they had been. His critics now began to publicly attack him. That was something new. Earlier they had been afraid to speak out for fear of the masses, but they began to perceive that the fickle public was turning on him. Soon the opposition began to snowball. When they discovered that they could not discredit his moral character, they began to take more desperate measures. Before it was all over a tidal wave welled up that brought Jesus to his knees under the weight of a cross. The Week of Passion had begun.
Application: It seems to me that the fulfillment of God’s promises always involves suffering and struggle, whether it is a promise about peace or the abundant life or freedom. All these great promises from God involve struggle, suffering, discipline, death, and injustice. There are always big thorns on that rose bush, and we the people of God intuitively want to avoid that. We want to delete that part of the promise. We want Palm Sunday. O Lord, give me a life of Palm Sundays but I don’t want to have a Passion Sunday. But … people discover the mystery of the passion: the suffering in marriage, the suffering with children, the suffering with friends, the suffering with refugees, the suffering with the starving, the suffering that goes with peace, the abundant life, and freedom. All the great things in life involve suffering. There is no exception.
Palm Sunday is a time for us to prepare our hearts for the agony of His Passion and the Joy of His Resurrection. So, this week, lets cover the road to the cross with our hearts, souls and our minds. As we reflect on this final week of Jesus’s life, lets celebrate in anticipation the return of the King of all kings.
