Susan and I were driving to different places on Friday and Saturday, and we saw quite a few palm tree plants sticking out of people’s cars. Now there were not as many as Christmas trees during Christmas season. But there were a few, and they looked like large green feathers.
Today is Palm Sunday, also known to some as Passion Sunday. How many people know the meanings of Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday?
Let me explain briefly. The palm branch represents "victory" in the Jewish culture of the Old and New Testament times. Palm Sunday points to the historic event of Jesus revealing Himself as God’s victorious King of Peace. We will talk more about Jesus as the King of Peace later this morning.
In terms of Passion Sunday, the word "passion" comes from the Latin word that gives us the word patient or suffering. Passion Sunday marks the historic beginning of Jesus’ suffering at the hands of sinful men. Good Friday marks the death of Jesus on the cross. Easter Sunday marks the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
This morning we will look at the surrounding details of Palm Sunday and see what this event reveals about Jesus and means to us. The text for this morning is Luke 19:28-44. Let me read Luke 19:28-44 for us.
Let me begin with a side-observation before we look at the main points. Some translations of the Bible label this section, "The Triumphal Entry," while other translations label this section, "Jesus Weeping over Jerusalem." How can one event have two very different perceptions? Because perception depends on focus. Let me illustrate.
When Susan and I take Esther to the doctor to get a shot, we put on fake smiles, so Esther won’t know. When we do this, we are focusing on her pain. Inside, we feel horrible, because we know it will hurt, she will cry, and we were responsible for her getting the shot.
But if we focus on the benefits of the vaccination, the horrible feelings we have go away. This focus assures us that her temporary pain will give her lasting protection. The different focus leads to different perceptions of the same event, Esther getting a shot. One is negative; the other positive.
In our passage, if we focus on Jesus saddened by the state of the Jews, then we perceive this passage to be about Jesus weeping over Jerusalem. If, however, we focus on this event leading to the death of Jesus to destroy the works of Satan and to pay for mankind’s sins, then we perceive this passage to be about the triumph of Jesus.
Focus determines perception. This truth allows Christians to have real joy in a messed up world. We don’t live in denial, but we focus on how this will all end -- in heaven. We think ahead to when "God will wipe away every tear from our eyes. [And] there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things [will] passed away (Revelation 21:4)." Because our eternal home is wonderful, we can have joy now, even if our journey home isn’t so wonderful.
Returning to the purpose of this morning’s study, we want to answer the question, "What does this Palm Sunday event reveal about Jesus and mean to us?"
First, this event reveals that Jesus was a King with a selfless priority. We see this in verses 28-36.
Reading this section out of context leads us to think that Jesus was quite domineering, or he was bullying a man. It appeared as if he took someone’s colt to make a grand entrance into Jerusalem. Let me give some context to show what he was really doing.
One chapter prior, Jesus explained to his disciples in Luke 18: 31-33, "We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again." So Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem was not to show off, but to be killed to fulfill the words of the prophets.
What did the prophets say about Jesus going into Jerusalem on a young donkey? The prophet Zechariah records, "Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey (Zechariah 9:9)."
Jesus is God’s righteous and gentle king. He came to bring salvation to mankind through His own death on the cross. With the prospect of suffering and death, Jesus did not look out for himself. Instead, he carried out the selfless priority.
If this is true, and it is, what does this truth mean to us? For those who have not trusted in Jesus Christ’s death as payment for your sin against God, you need to know God loved you enough to come in Jesus Christ to take the punishment for your sin. Let His death pay for your sins. He died for the opportunity.
And for those who have trusted in Jesus Christ as payment for your sin against God, it’s time to live like your King. Live a life of self-denial to make possible to the spreading of Jesus’ good news. If you receive money gifts for your birthday, holidays, bonus or salary increase, you don’t have to spend it all on yourself or your family. Use some of it to support missionaries and Christian work. If you have three or four weeks of vacation each year, consider going on a mission trip for two of those weeks.
During the last week of Jesus’ life on earth, he said to his disciples in Luke 22:25-26, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves."
First, Jesus was a King with a selfless priority. Second, the Palm Sunday event reveals that Jesus was a King with deserved praise. We see this in verses 37-40.
If you haven’t noticed, the Asian culture values humbleness. And I’m a part of this culture. When someone says to me, "That was a great sermon, Dana." I would reply, "Well, I wish I were older and wiser, so I could offer more real-life applications."
When someone says to you, "That was a delicious meal you prepared." You might reply, "It could use a bit more soy sauce." Or, "I think it’s a bit overcooked."
Or someone might say, "My, your child is well-behaved." You then reply, "You haven’t seen him at home."
This cultural humbleness causes us to be uncomfortable with receiving praise, even when the praise is accurately and appropriately directed.
Jesus, however, was comfortable receiving the praises from his disciples, because the praises were accurately and appropriately directed. Jesus is the king who comes in the name of the Lord God.
Jesus is also the peace and glory of heaven. These were words spoken by the angels at his birth. Jesus is God’s gift to mankind, so that we can have peace with God. Peace with God is God’s achievement, not mankind’s achievement. The glory, credit and praise belong to God.
Parents, if your child were sentenced to death for a crime he committed, would you be willing to die in his place, if this would see him free?
Young people, if one of your parents were sentenced to death for a crime she committed, would you be willing to die in her place, if this would set her free?
If you answered "yes," you deserve my admiration and praise.
Now what if the person who is sentenced to death were someone who really hurt you repeatedly? Would you still be willing to die in his place, if this would set him free?
Romans 5:8 tells us, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Because of Jesus’ selfless priority and his accomplishment on the cross, he deserves our praise.
First, Jesus was a King with a selfless priority. Second, Jesus was a King with deserved praise. Third, this Palm Sunday event reveals that Jesus was a King with eternal peace. We see this in verses 41-44.
The reason why Jesus wept was because these people were looking for temporary peace, and they missed the eternal peace from God. The Jews wanted a king who would set them free from the oppression of the Roman soldiers. Jesus wanted to set them free from the oppression of sin. The Jews wanted political and civil peace so badly, they missed the eternal peace God wanted them to have through Jesus’ death on the cross.
Someone told about a wealthy businessman getting ready to come out of his parked Mercedes. As he opened the door a truck roared by and tore off the door. He got out to look at the damage to his car and began spewing anger. He immediately called the police department with his cell phone.
When the police officer arrived, he ranted and raved about how his new Mercedes would never be the same, even if he brought it to the best body shop.
The officer stopped the man just long enough to say, "Sir, you are bleeding badly. The truck not only tore off your car door. It apparently tore off your left arm as well."
The man looked at where his left arm should have been, and he shouted, "My Rolex is gone!"
God has given us life, but we long for things. God desires to give us eternal peace with Himself, but we want only temporary peace in a messed up world.
In the last 3,600 years of recorded history, historians differ with claims of 7 to 269 years of peace and over 8,000 treatises made and broken. As I searched the world news in the middle of this week, I found "car bomb in Peru that killed 9" and "Islamic militant who blew himself up and the bus he was on."
Jerusalem means "city of peace," but Jesus knew the Roman soldiers would soon turn this city into rubbles. Jesus wept because the people placed their hope in what would not last rather than on the eternal peace God came to give.
Malcolm Muggeridge wrote in The End of Christendom, "As Christians, we know that here we have no continuing city, that crowns roll in the dust and every earthly kingdom must sometimes flounder, whereas we acknowledge a king men did not crown and cannot dethrone, as we are citizens of a city of God they did not build and cannot destroy."
What kind of King is He? Jesus is the kind of King who has earned our allegiance by his selfless priority, deserved praise and eternal peace.
