Palm Sunday - The Real Jesus of Palm Sunday
Have you ever been let down by someone you looked up too? Maybe the saying, “you don’t want to meet your heroes” holds true for you?
How do you feel when someone doesn’t live up to your expectations?
Palm Sunday raises an important question for us today: Which Jesus do
Context going into Palm Sunday is important in understanding the layers of what was happening during this time.
- Jesus had been performing miracles for the last 3 years amongst the Jews. At this point, the name of Jesus is known throughout the land.
- It was the start of the week of Passover, so the city was flood with people. Estimates say the city had somewhere between 3-5 times the normal population during Passover week.
- Jesus had just raised Lazarus from the dead. Many people saw Lazarus, and the word of this miracle had spread throughout all of the Jews in the area.
- Jesus had an active warrant for his arrest, and anyone who saw Jesus was supposed to report it to the authorities.
- Jesus knew what He was walking into, and He knew what was going to happen to Himself and to the city of Jerusalem.
Palm Sunday Passages: Matthew 21:1–11, Mark 11:1–11, Luke 19:28–44, and John 12:12–19.
The Donkey and the Palms
Donkey Colt:
To the Romans it was a symbol of a conqueror.
To the Jews, it was a clear declaration of the Messiah. The one who can raise the dead is clearly the Messiah.
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. —Zechariah 9:9
Palm Branches: Victory
Contradiction: Jesus entered on a donkey, which symbolized the peace and the established kingship of the Messiah; yet the Jews were calling for victory over the Romans.
The Jews saw Jesus as the one who was going to bring them victory over the physical oppression that they faced, mainly the Romans. To reestablish the Throne of David and make Israel a great nation again.
Which Jesus do you worship?
Perhaps the most telling moment of Palm Sunday is found in Luke 19.
Jesus Weeps for Jerusalem under Judgment
19:41 Now when Jesus approached and saw the city, he wept over it, 19:42 saying, “If you had only known on this day, even you, the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 19:43 For the days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and surround you and close in on you from every side. 19:44 They will demolish you—you and your children within your walls—and they will not leave within you one stone on top of another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.” —Luke 19:41–44 (NET)
Which Jesus do you worship?
Jesus is weeping over the people and the city. Why?
They did not know what makes
Jerusalem = City of peace or possession of peace.
The people of peace, and many other Jews, missed a very important value in their faith.
Peace with God = right relation between the Creator and the created.
They thought that if they just do the right thing they will have peace with God, and the Messiah will come and bring victory over the Romans.
What would happen though, is that when Jesus, their declared Messiah, does nothing against the Romans, their hope is destroyed.
In their eyes, Jesus let them down. Jesus weeps, because He knows that they are missing this visitation from God.
Has your faith ever been challenged? Have you ever heard someone say “I lost my faith going through this…”
My answer? GOOD!
A faith that cannot be
, cannot be
.
When Jesus did not act like they wanted or expected, they turned on him.
The crowds came because of WHAT Jesus did and WHAT they thought He would do.
There is only one way to come to Jesus, and that is to know WHO He is.
6Jesus replied, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7If you have known me, you will know my Father too. And from now on you do know him and have seen him.” —John 14:6-7
27All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son decides to reveal him. —Matthew 11:27
Who is Jesus?
He is the Cross. He is the greatest depth of love. He is the Son of God who came to lay down His life for man.
To join Him in His suffering, join Him in His weeping, and to join Him in His victory.
Peace with God = right
Jesus demonstrated the love that He has for us through the cross, so that we would turn our hearts away from this world, and towards Him.
As I was working on this message, I was struck by something. We talk a lot about how painful the cross was and the suffering that Jesus had to endure. But what if, that was not the most painful suffering for God?
I felt the Holy Spirit impress on my heart, that the separation from man was worse. That Jesus willingly, and gladly went to the cross to end the suffering of the separation.
Oh the LORD weeps over our separation from Him.
Turn to Him, to who He really is, towards His great love.
Compare the titles given to Jesus:
On Palm Sunday, the people shout “Praise the King and Messiah.”
In Heaven, the angels shout “Praise the Lamb who was slain.”