Hello there friends!

We are in week 2 of our series “Back to Life”, as we lean into the Easter season of 2022! As a church we have been on a pretty wild and challenging journey over the last 2 years and we believe that God is just getting started with us! So I want to encourage everyone who is walking alongside us as a church to really invest your hearts in who God is and what He is desiring for us and our community.

While as Christ-followers we should honestly and hopefully think of everyday as Easter because of how Jesus is constantly and consistently bringing us back to life through His Spirit, my hope for us is that during this Easter season specifically we can devote ourselves to pursuing Jesus passionately and loving our neighbors just as passionately! May we as the people of God look and speak and live in such a way that our neighbors experience the goodness of God through us and be brought back to life with the heart of God!

Crowds and Hosannas and Palms, Oh My!

“The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,

“Fear not, daughter of Zion;
behold, your king is coming,
sitting on a donkey’s colt!”

His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.” —John 12: 12-19

Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem is a massive spectacle. Much of Israel is heading in to celebrate the Passover Feast, remembering and glorifying God for when He caused the death angel to pass over the houses of Israel by covering their doorways in the blood of a sacrificial lamb and ultimately delivering the people out of capivity from Egypt. And so crowds of people, many who have seen and heard of Jesus and His teachings and miracles are all caught up in the emotional hype of it all.

The crowds began to cry out singing portions of Psalm 118, which was one of the “Hallel Psalms”. These were songs of praise and thanksgiving of divine redemption and more or less were considered part of the festival liturgy. “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” was almost a greet to pilgrims coming in to celebrate, a blessing and benediction spoken to each other, not unlike how many modern day Christians would say to one another “He is risen, He is risen indeed!” And obviously with all of the excitement and curiosity and wonder, these songs took on a very messianic meaning, “…even the King of Israel!”

With this king-fever in mind, people laid a path of their own clothing and various plants, vines, ferns, and palms for Jesus to ride upon, signifying and honoring someone worthy of great praise. The palms in particular were significant, especially in light of not only their meaning to the Israelites, but to other cultures and faiths around the world. The Romans would have waved these palms around in praise of triumph or victory, typically in reference to a military conquest where peace had been established (more on this later!) Other ancient eastern faiths like the Egyptians would carry palm branches during funeral processions, with the palms themselves representing peace and eternal life. Jesus rides in on a donkey in accordance to scripture, not a horse which was an animal of war but a donkey which would have been associated with meekness, humility, and peace.

Most interesting ,(to me at least), is the use of the word “Hosanna”. It was used as an invocation of blessing, a shout of praise and acclamation, “Glory to God in the highest!” But the earliest meaning of the word, the most literal translation would have been an expression of helplessness, a plea for deliverance: “Save Now!” Or perhaps we could say, “Save us now!” Hosanna would have been apart of the liturgical language of the Passover feast, “thank you God for delivering us, Glory to God in the highest!” But perhaps some of the literal meaning is there as well… “Save us now! Rescue and deliver us like you did from Egypt so long ago!”

And truly Jesus had come to do just that. To “hosanna” not just Israel, but the whole world. To ride in a great funeral procession and claim victory over sin and death for ever. To be the great Prince of Peace that ended forever the war between God and His people.

But the crowds did not understand, not yet. And in a few days, the same crowds crying out, “Save us! Glory to God in the Highest! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”, would either abandon Him in fear, acting as if they never knew Him, or be chanting “Crucify Him!”

It is these crowds: the Pharisees, the multitudes, and the disciples, that we need to examine. Because, even now on the eve of Holy week, our very own Palm Sunday, we can very easy find ourselves numbered among them.

The Crowd of Pharisees

“Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” —John 11: 45-48

Just preceding Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem is the story of the raising of Lazarus. Such an incredible event, happening so close to Jerusalem, is very likely the main catalyst for the King-fever that drove so many to crowd around Jesus as He made His way to the cross. Many of those people, some who had witnessed the event and some who had merely heard of it, were poor and broken and on the fringes of society and desperate to believe in something or someone who would save them. But as we will discover later, many did not believe and ran to the Pharisees to report this miracle-worker from Galilee who was upsetting the status quo.

We don’t need to spend too much time on the Pharisees; we have discussed them at length already (although if you are reading this and you have no idea about who the Pharisees are and want to know more, please speak/email Brandon or one of the staff members of Phos!!!) But sufficed to say, the Pharisees being the rulers of Israel, were concerned with protecting the people of Israel from sin, from outsiders who would ruin and take away their faith and autonomy as a nation. The Pharisees believed that they were the best hands to lead Israel and guide/control the people. But since Israel was overall controlled by Rome, the Pharisees control was tenuous at best. And so they were very much afraid of these “messiahs” and radicals and zealots popping up everywhere, riling up the people and causing dissension and attracting the attention of the Roman government. Rome allowed Israel some autonomy and abilty to maintain their faith, but if said faith interfered with Roman rule, it would be crushed swiftly (and of course, 40-ish years later, the temple would be crushed.)

The Romans, for their part, did not espouse the Israelite faith or this new, strange sect emerging. Undoubtably, they would have paid attention to Jesus’s entrance to Jerusalem and its resemblance to an arriving king would not have been lost on them. But Jesus riding in on a donkey would have been foolishness to them. Their real threat was in fact the Pharisees themselves, getting incredibly worked up and possibly working up the crowds themselves. Rome needed to keep the Pharisees contained and happy if they wanted to maintain their control of Israel.

Again, we tend to make the Pharisees the bad guys, and they really kind of are quite frankly. But I and perhaps we, (meaning the modern church), sometimes find ourselves in this crowd. In our zealousness to protect ourselves from the massively changing tide of culture, we build up our high walls of doctrine and theology and systems. Because what if the outsiders, the sinners out there, what if they get into a position of power, like Rome did? What if they interfere with our way of life? What if they rub off on our families? What if they don’t look like us, think like us, speak like us, politic like us? What if they believe differently than us and don’t understand us or our faith? We need to protect ourselves from them, first and foremost! Then, as long as it is safe, then maybe we can explain our theology to them. The Pharisees were afraid that following this Jesus would cause the loss of their faith and people, Israel, to the Romans, the sinners. “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.” I have been apart of this crowd.

Here’s the thing. Scripture very clearly says that the ways of Christ-followers is foolishness to those who do not believe. It says that the aroma of Christ is like death to those who do not know. Of course culture is turning against us. It has always been against us because the world is fallen. Of course, they don’t understand or agree with our morality or ethics or thought processes. Rome did not know God. The sinners do not know God. They may know of Jesus intellectually but they do not “know” Him intimately, as in belief. We cannot expect non-Christians to act like Christians… because they aren’t Christians. And they will never have the opportunity to have faith and believe unless someone walks beside them and shows them.

Jesus sat down and ate with the tax collectors and sinners. He sent His disciples out to unsafe places. Not long after He ascended, Jesus sent Peter, a staunch Israelite, to Cornelius, a centurion and captain in the Roman army. The early church itself was scattered far beyond Jerusalem, to the unreached people. And Paul, a Pharisees himself, was sent among the Gentiles to plant churches. And do you know were Paul wanted to go most fervently? Rome. Because he knew, because the Spirit of God taught him, that for sinners to change, for Rome to change, for the world to change, it must happen from the inside out. In a very rough paraphrase of Romans 10: 14-15… how will they know if we do not go?

The Crowd of the Multitudes

“While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

‘Lord, who has believed what he heard from us,
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?’

Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said,

‘He has blinded their eyes
and hardened their heart,
lest they see with their eyes,
and understand with their heart, and turn,
and I would heal them.’

Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.” —John 12: 36-43

The “multitudes, the people, are mainly comprised of the “outer disciples” (those who followed him around from place to place because of His miracles), the crowds of people coming in to celebrate the Passover, and the people who witnessed Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead. Even though Jesus had proved Himself time and time again to the people, they still struggled with belief. And so the author of this gospel, John, quotes a passage from Isaiah that is quoted several other places in scripture.

I’ll admit this one had me stumped. It kind of sounds like God is causing people to not believe, because then He would have to heal them. But after some research and prayer, it became more clear to me. Because God allows choice for us, it has consequences. And just like saying yes to God and pursuing Jesus over time transforms us to look more like Jesus, saying no to God and walking the other direction hardens our hearts, deafens our ears, and blinds us to what God is doing. God allows us to say yes or no, and therefore allows us to grow more like Him or less like Him. Even those people in the crowd who did believe in Jesus struggled to follow Him fully, because they loved the world more still.

And again, I and perhaps we find ourselves in this crowd sometimes. I love Jesus’s miracles. I love happiness and positivity and encouragement. I love celebrating the good times with other believers and feeling safe and secure. I love following Jesus… as long as I have nothing more interesting to do (I have actually heard someone say this, nearly word for word!) But if my prayer isn’t answered the way I wanted it to be, if it’s a bad diagnosis or a broken friendship or a lost job, or life isn’t just the way I want it, then why God have you forsaken me? I love to follow God when life is good, but when it isn’t, suddenly I look the other way. And because I make that choice over and over again, every time I say no to God, it gets harder to hear His voice, to see His face, and live the way He has called me to live. I’ve been apart of this crowd many, many times in my life.

The Crowd of the Disciples

And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” —Mark 10: 35-45

This one is kind of a continuation of the last crowd… but with far more serious implications. The disciples were such a wonderful, blessed, incredible group of followers of Jesus. Without them, there would be no church today. We owe them a lot.

And… they were a big bunch of dummies. For real. (Me too!)

More than once they get caught in arguments among themselves about which one of them are the best at following Jesus. “Who’s more important Jesus, me or Mike? TELL ME NOW!!!!” And now, James and John, actually have the audacity to tell Jesus to do what they want Him to do. And they want to sit side by side with Jesus in glory.

For real friends, they are actually asking Jesus to allow them to sit next to Him on the throne of God in Heaven. Just right there, next to God, chilling.

Dummies.

Some of the other gospels lay it on their mom, that she asked Jesus to do this. The Bible is one hundred percent true but still… kinda sounds like they threw momma under the bus on that one! And then, the other disciples hear about this, and they all got into a huge fight. You got think that Jesus must be watching all this going down, just shaking His head in bemusement.

This crowd is me, way too often. And maybe you all are much better than I am, but I’m willing to bet this is some of you all as well. We do live in a broken and fallen world. We are surrounded by a culture that says “you are perfect just the way you are” and “take the easy way” and “find your own happiness”. And it has had an effect on “the church”, it has had an effect on me. I love going to bible studies and learning about Jesus and theology… as long as it doesn’t challenge me or step on my toes. I love singing worship music… as long as it is my worship music. I love going to church and serving Jesus, as long as I’m not tired or busy or as long as I feel like it.

God is wonderful and He is my all in all but why do I know more movie and television show lines than scripture? Why do we sing at concerts or cheer on our fave sports team much louder than we do God at HIS worship services? Why do we scroll and scroll and scroll on social media, or the weather app, or obsess over diet and the gym, or watch the sports highlights or re-read Harry Potter for the 10th time (which I have done), but fight to spend 30 mins a day in scripture or meditation or prayer for others?

We make church and following Jesus about us.

What if God called us to quit our jobs and do something else? What if He called us to sell all that we have and give to the poor? What if God called you to love and minister to someone you just absolutely cannot stand? I’m not saying that He has called you, whoever is reading this, to do any of those specific things right now. But I know that He has LITERALLY called others to do it. And He might call you or me to as well.

Jesus Is Still Weeping

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! 38 See, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’” —Matthew 23: 37-39

Even while all of the crowds are cheering Him on, this is what Jesus is thinking and feeling about them. Luke records that even before the procession started, Jesus was weeping for the crowds. Because He knows us.

The crowds and again, perhaps us today, perhaps you even, and CERTAINLY ME, we love the idea of a Savior. “HOSANNA! SAVE US NOW!” But a Lord, a King that commands us and we follow and obey… well that’s much harder. We love the Resurrection and the new life Jesus gives us… but the cross calls us to die to ourselves and that is painful. We love the free blessings of God’s never-ending grace… but the cost of discipleship seems too high a price to pay.

I am not picking on anyone or trying to offend anyone. And I am not saying anything that does not apply to me personally. I have been in all of these crowds and I still struggle with them all.

What I am asking of us as a church, on Holy Week as we prepare to celebrate Easter and all that God has done and is continuing to do, is to recognize that we are the crowd around Jesus. We are His disciples. We are welcoming Him into Jerusalem, His Kingdom, our hearts.

How am I welcoming and receiving Jesus this Easter? How are you welcoming and receiving Jesus this Easter? How are we welcoming and receiving Jesus this Easter?

Apart from the questions mentioned above, here are some more things to ponder this Holy Week:

1.) Which of the crowds do I identify with the most? Why? When we read the gospels, how does Jesus typically respond to each of the crowds?

2.) What part of our lives do we struggle with welcoming Jesus into? Is He the Lord of our lives truly or do we struggle with just seeing Him as our Savior? How can we better allow Him control over all parts of our lives?

3.) Jesus is our Savior, truly. What do you need Him to “Hosanna” in your life?

You are loved.

Believe it!