Palm Sunday - Jesus’ Triumphant Entry Into Jerusalem
SERMON TRANSCRIPT
Welcome! We're so excited that you're here joining us on Palm Sunday. Wow, it's so full, I love it. If you're new, we would love to meet you. So Pastor Chris and I will be under the green tent after the service, and if you could just introduce yourself, we would love to say hi and get to know you. So thank you for being here this Sunday. We're taking a break, as Pastor Chris said, from our Philippians series. We'll come back to that in about a month and finish off the letter, but for now we're going to turn our attention towards this final week of Jesus's life as we approach Easter.
I want to begin by telling you a funny story I heard from another pastor recently. It tells a story about a five-year-old boy named Sam who one weekend gets sick. And so he decides to stay home from church, and he stays home with his dad, and his mom takes his two siblings to church. And when they get back, Sam notices that they're carrying palm branches in their hands. And so he says, "Mom, what are the palm branches? What do they mean?" And his mom said, "Well, today was Palm Sunday." And when Jesus walked by everyone, waved palm branches, and said, "Hosanna, praise the Lord." And the five-year-old Sam thinks about it for a second, and he says, "Great, but one Sunday I don't go to church and Jesus shows up.”
We want to be like Sam. We don't want to miss what God is doing on Palm Sunday. And so that, like, again, Pastor Chris said, this begins Holy Week. And our prayer for all of us is is that this week we pay attention to the ways in which God wants to meet us this week. We want to begin with this question today of what is Palm Sunday all about? Why do we, meaning even the global church, take time out of whatever series, whatever we're covering, and everyone around the world is taking a break to have a Palm Sunday? Let's acknowledge its significance. And so this is the day, as you know, that Jesus was hailed as king, and he would bring a new kind of kingdom to the world. At the time, where this is happening, there were two separate ideas of what that kingdom would look like. The one that Israel had in mind, and the one that Jesus knew, he would be ushering in. From Israel's perspective, you have to know their history a bit. And so, hundreds of years before this, they've fallen away from God. The Israel's kings over and over again have rebelled against God, have chosen their own way. The people would not listen to the prophets that God had sent to try to get their attention, to try to get them to repent. And so God eventually let them suffer the consequences of their actions by letting them be defeated by other nations, by letting them be taken captive. And in captivity, God is still sending prophets to say, "Hey, I have a plan. I have a plan of redemption." And these prophecies pointed to a future redeemer, a savior, a Messiah, a rescuer, a king. And so in their minds, if you're Israel over hundreds of years, you kind of have these pieces to the puzzle. And for them, they assembled those pieces in a way where they thought of the future king being a warrior king, someone who would establish a new earthly empire.
They thought that this new king, this leader, this rescuer, would release them from any oppressive regimes and kingdoms that ruled over them, that this new king would conquer anyone that opposed them, just like the kings of old, like Saul and David and Solomon. However, Jesus, in a different perspective, in the true perspective, he taught about a different kind of kingdom. He was also teaching and showing them that he was gonna be a different kind of king, though they didn't realize that at the time. So he'd been teaching for three years. He's had run-ins with religious leaders. He's performed miracles. He's been discipling a close group of people. And now as we come to our passage this morning, the pace of Jesus' story quickens at a breakneck speed to the climax at the cross. So I'm gonna go ahead and pray, and then we're gonna dive into our passage this morning. Would you guys pray with me?
God, thank you for this day. Thank you for the chance to gather with each other, to praise you, to learn more about you. And we do come before you, Lord, with humble hearts on this Palm Sunday, recognizing your triumphal entry to Jerusalem. And God, I pray that as we study your word, you would help us to realize the significance and the sanctity of this passage and what is happening here in the life of Jesus. And at the end of this time together, we'd be drawn closer to you and have a deeper appreciation and understanding of who you are and what you've done. We pray this in your name, amen.
All right, I'm just gonna go verse by verse. We're gonna be in Matthew 21. We're gonna start in verse one. And so you can follow along. I think we'll have the verses on the screen. But verse one says, "As they approached Jerusalem and came to Beth, Bahaag, I cannot say this word, Bethphage, on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples. Pause right there. The disciples, if you picture this scene, the disciples and Jesus are on the final ridge at the Mount of Olives and they can see the city in the distance. But they're not alone. This is Passover season, where thousands of people are heading to Jerusalem by the same route. And Jesus knows, is aware of this upcoming scene and what this will look like for the people that are with him and for the religious leaders that are in Jerusalem. He knows the scriptures and the prophecies, so this is a very loaded scene for him. He knows what is happening. But for the people, this is a huge group, thousands upon thousands outside, going with Jesus to Jerusalem. Verse 2 says, "Saying to them," to the two disciples, "Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. "If anyone says anything to you, "say that the Lord needs them, "that he will send them right away." This is, this little scene right here, even just with this donkey, is hundreds of years in the making, and we'll get to that in a second. But this is where those expectations for the people of Israel come into play in approaching Jerusalem.
Right here in this scene, scripture starts to be fulfilled. Prophecies begin to be fulfilled. Jerusalem is of huge significance. It's the capital city, it's the central place of worship, it's the central place of politics where people would travel for Passover, it's where the king back in the day would reign. It's the central location for Israel's self-understanding of life under God. This will become truer than ever imagined. Jesus coming to Jerusalem means so much, And Jesus' approach is full of purpose and meaning, and the Jewish people pick up on that. They just have a different conclusion than what Jesus is actually saying and doing. Verses four and five say, "This took place to fulfill "what was spoken through the prophet. "Say to daughter Zion, 'See, your king comes to you, "'gentle and riding on a donkey, "'and on a colt the foal of a donkey.'" Right here, Matthew is quoting Zechariah 9:9. Old Testament prophet from long ago, telling that this is how the Messiah would enter. I wanna focus on how this king is described in this passage here. It says lowly, which can be translated as peaceful or humble or gentle. And this picture of humble and peaceful is in stark contrast with the aggressive military and leader of popular messianism. Instead of aggressive and offensive, Jesus is gentle and compassionate. Instead of overpowering and power hungry, Jesus is approachable and humble. This hearkens back to earlier words in the Gospel of Matthew, as Matthew has tried to paint a picture for the readers of who this Messiah is. In Matthew 12, quoting Isaiah 42, he says that Jesus is a servant. In Matthew 11, he says that Jesus has a gentle and humble heart.
Again, just trying to paint the picture that even though people are expecting this kind of leader, one that will take over, one that will lead an uprising, Jesus is actually a very different kind of leader. And if his demeanor and character are any indicators of how different of a leader he is, it also shows just how different his kingdom will be. Verses six and seven, we continue, it says, "The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. "They brought the donkey and the colt "and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on." So disciples show a lot of respect and reverence. I don't know, how many of you have ridden a horse before? Yeah, oh wow, quite a bit, oh my goodness. All right, I've only ridden a horse like once or twice, But I was very thankful for a saddle. It was very comfortable, and I can't imagine doing it without. If you have, props to you. That seems pretty legit. But in this scene, Jesus gets the treatment, right? He gets some cloaks, makes a very soft saddle for him. And again, just more painting the picture that this is special, right? This is something to be revered.
Verse eight says, "A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. This is like the red carpet scene, right? We see, kind of have images maybe of people lining whatever street they're on, and now the road is just covered, and Jesus is on this donkey, and he's approaching the city. I was trying to think of something similar, and maybe it's like those motorcades. Maybe, I don't know, we don't live in San Francisco. But the last time the San Francisco Giants won the World Series, the city celebrated, and all the team is in the streets, and people are crowded around the streets, and the confetti's falling down from the sky, and it's just a party. It's like, yeah, I was cheering, and yay for the team. That's kind of maybe similar to what is happening here, but probably tenfold, because the meaning of this scene is way more important than the Giants winning a World Series. But this is huge fanfare. This is massive, and it's a crowd. It's exciting. It is a huge scene, a joyous scene. Verse 9 says, "The crowds then went ahead of him, and those that followed shouted, 'Hosanna to the Son of David! "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, "Hosanna in the highest heaven." Hosanna is a Greek form of the Hebrew word translated save us which sounds like a plea, but in this case, it's more of just an exclamation, acknowledging of who this person is and what they could do. Save us, Hosanna. And they're shouting, save us, son of David, which is a reference and a way of saying king, sent by God. They are giving praise to the Lord of Heaven, to Jesus, which is the right response. This is what they should be doing. They get this part right. They have the Messiah before them that God sent, and they are just praising him with everything that they have. They just have a misunderstanding of what this next week in Jesus' life will look like.
This is 10 and 11 read, "When Jesus entered Jerusalem, "the whole city was stirred and asked, 'Who is this?' "The crowds answered, 'This is Jesus, "the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.'" So once this crowd reaches the city, the city itself is like, what's going on? There's a party coming towards us. Who are we celebrating? What's happening? And so the crowd informed, you know, the rumor just starts spreading, like, hey, this is the prophet, this is Jesus. And prophet of Nazareth doesn't sound as exciting as king, But for the people, this would definitely have overtones of this is the Messiah. This is the one that we have been waiting for. After years and years of silence from God, finally, He has sent the one that we've been waiting for. Jesus was here to bring about His heavenly kingdom into reality, but the road to glory for Jesus has to get a lot darker before it gets any better. because he knows what entering Jerusalem really meant.
I wanna walk through the life of Jesus together in this week following Palm Sunday, in our week coming up here. Jesus would enter into the city on what would become Palm Sunday, then the following day is Monday, and on Monday, Jesus enters the temple, and he's angry, he's very upset. He's upset that the religious leaders have allowed the temple, this place that is supposed to be holy, that is supposed to be a very unique place where God and humanity meet, where there is shalom, which means everything that God intended, it's happening there, but instead the religious leaders have let the temple become a place of worshiping money and corruption, and Jesus is not having it. And so he expresses his anger, And he would further upset the religious leaders who were already pretty upset with him. And the tension between them would reach a point of no return.
Tuesday, in Jesus' life, he would continue to teach at the temple, trying to heal the corruption that had been present for so long. Teaching this is what it's supposed to be. Teaching about his kingdom, what's going to happen. But as he's doing that, the tensions continue to rise.
And then Wednesday of Jesus's life, this is the day where plans are set in motion to capture and to kill Jesus.
The next day, Thursday, Jesus's life, we call it Maundy Thursday. Maundy, which comes from the Latin to mandate. And he would gather his disciples. He would wash their feet. He would break bread with them. And then he would command them or mandate them "to serve and love one another." What he knows is such a significant meal with them, that's his most important command, "to serve and love one another.”
And then that night, things get very dark. And he goes to the garden to pray, and then we go into Good Friday. And as Pastor Chris said, it's a very dark day. This is the day where people's cries turn from, From Hosanna, praise Jesus, return to crucify him. He would stand trial that morning, he would be tortured, he would carry his own cross to the top of the hill, and there he'd be crucified and give his life, becoming the ultimate sacrifice to save people from the punishment of their sins. It's the darkest day in history. It's the day that the Son of God died. And yet, it's a part of God's plan. As dark as it is, this is what God intended. And Jesus, who has been given the royal treatment almost a week before this, on Palm Sunday, knows that this is coming. He's entering the city, being celebrated, Having people shout Hosanna and knows what this week looks like.
And then in this week of Jesus' life, there's Saturday, what we call Holy Saturday. And this is a day of in-between. This is a day of lament, between lament and hope, where Jesus is still in the grave, but we, being on the other side of this whole event, know that he wants to come the next day. And so it's just the day of in-between. we're in between sorrow and joy, between grief and hope, between loss and gain, between death and life. We don't wanna rush past this day. Everyone is so excited to get to Easter, and rightfully so. It's the biggest day, as Pastor Chris said, the Super Bowl of our Christian faith. But being present in each day is so important. And so this Saturday, be present in this in-between, where we're grieving what happened and yet hopeful for what is about to happen, what we're going to celebrate.
And then on Sunday, Easter Sunday, we know that when the tomb, this is when the tomb where Jesus lay would be found empty. And the world would discover that Jesus lives, that he is truly God, that Jesus would begin his reign in this new kingdom. And so next week we get to celebrate the best day. And it means that death is defeated, that Satan and sin do not win. And that means for those who believe, we have eternal life with God. So I wanted to walk through this week, and especially today, because for Jesus, Palm Sunday ushered him into the toughest week of his life. And on this day, in this passage, we learn some important things about Jesus. Palm Sunday teaches us, first, that Jesus is the fulfillment of prophecy. God is sovereign and he is in control. And he has had a plan of redemption since Genesis 3, when sin entered into the world, he had a plan. And that plan was fulfilled in the life and death and resurrection of Jesus. The savior who has been foretold for years, all throughout the Old Testament, comes to fruition here. And God's plan never fails. What he says will come true.
Secondly, Palm Sunday teaches us that Jesus is worthy to be praised. Just as the people were praising Jesus on the road, shouting Hosanna, giving their utmost respect and reverence to Jesus, this is truly what he deserves. Jesus is worthy and requires our worship. He is the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, our Redeemer, our Savior, our Messiah. What other response do we have but to praise Him for what He's done for us.
And thirdly, Jesus, Palm Sunday teaches us that Jesus is not always what is expected. The Jewish people, when praising Jesus on this Palm Sunday, on the road, we're expecting this new earthly kingdom. And we're expecting this in the next days for it to go very differently, for there to be an uprising, for them to be in weeks time on top of the world. this is the new power that's in place, our lives are gonna change, we're gonna become top dog in the known world again, just like we were back in King David and Solomon, we're going to reach new heights of earthly glory, is what they thought. They were thinking like Caesar or King David. You see, often when it comes to leaders, we're drawn towards big personalities, powerful communicators, result producing leaders. rather than persons of beautiful character. Jesus is humble, meek, lowly, and gentle. Maybe not the first words that we would use to describe a great leader. And yet Jesus is the ultimate leader.
An author and pastor, Paul David Tripp writes this. He says, "Do we really look for leaders "who are known for their gentleness? Do we esteem leaders who have their vision and emotions under control so that they're not controlling, demanding, or easily corrupted? In Jesus, we no longer need to look horizontally for what can only be found vertically. Jesus wasn't the militaristic leader or influential political leader, but he was gentle and lowly, peaceful, a servant come to sacrifice himself. The next week in Jesus' life is not at all what the Jewish people expected. It's not the kind of leader they expected, it's not the kind of kingdom they expected, and yet it's exactly what they needed. It's exactly what God had planned.
So, given what we've learned about Jesus from our passage, let me ask a few things that you can talk with God about this week as you reflect on these truths. First, do you trust and live knowing that God is in control? It's easy to say it. Yes, I know that God is in control. Yes, I believe that. But do we actually live that way? We are all fighting worries and anxieties. And oftentimes those worries and anxieties lead us to wanting to take more control. The more the world around us seems out of control, our grip gets firmer. We say, "I gotta do more." But we have to remember that Jesus knows everything, knows us, knows the situation, and he has a plan. Even when we think we have control, and then things, often things later go sideways, things get chaotic, it becomes very challenging, overwhelming, we have to remember from the very beginning that Jesus is in control. So do we trust and live knowing that he is in control? Trusting that the plans that he has made and the work that he is doing in us, he will finish. Sometimes we do. If you're reflecting right now, you're like, yeah, sometimes, that's good. And that's part of the Christian faith and the Christian life, is to learn how to do that more and more. To continually give up control, to surrender to him, submit to him. All right, that's the first question.
Secondly, is Jesus king in your life? Is he receiving all the praise, all the reverence, all the worship that he deserves? It can be easy for us reading these, the Bible and the stories here, to criticize the Jewish people for turning their words of praise, of hosanna, to words of crucify him. but can also be easy for us today to go from praising God on a Sunday in the middle of a service, to then the very next day living a very different life. To living a life that is not at all dependent on Jesus, where he is not reigning over our lives, where we are living out of selfishness, out of pride, independent from God, only giving God a few moments of our day, if that, when really we should be living with him as our king every moment of every day. So do we give him our praise continuously, worshiping him with every facet of our life, living for him daily? Is Jesus king in your life all the time?
Last question. What are our expectations of Jesus? Do we try to define who we think Jesus should be and what he should do? Maybe like Israel, we have thoughts as to what Jesus will do for us. It's like, oh, God, I'm sick again. Can you, Jesus, I think you should make me better right away. This is my plan. These are my thoughts that I think are great. So if you could do that for me, I think we're on the same page. Or Jesus, I'm having relationship issues. Can you please help that other person to see that I'm right? That would be great. This is our will, right, God? Maybe we're feeling stuck at work. We're like, Jesus, if you could get that promotion going for me, get that ball rolling, please. I've been working faithfully, being quiet about it, just a humble worker, can you please do the things that I want you to do?
We often think that we know who Jesus should be and what he should do in our lives. But just as he was a different leader than the Jews expected, different from the way of the world, we must recognize that Jesus works in our lives Probably differently from what we expect or what we may think is best. Because he calls us to the path of compassion and love. He calls us to serve and to sacrifice. He calls us to put others before ourselves. And he calls us to endure and to submit. Heading into different seasons of life, we think, God, I think this will go best if, and fill in the blank, and we give God the answers and expectations, when really our hearts and our prayers should reflect what Jesus taught us, which is, "Lord, not my will, but yours." It's a prayer that Jesus would pray himself in the garden before being betrayed, and it's hard. It's hard to pray that prayer, "Not my will, but yours." but we wanna walk like Jesus as He has walked before us, walk in His footsteps and surrender to God. So that's our prayer this week. We wanna be aligned with what God is doing in our lives. And again, our prayer today and this week is to pay attention to the ways that Jesus wants to meet us this week. We went through those days of Holy Week to encourage you to walk that with Jesus this week. So tomorrow when Jesus years ago gets angry, think about those emotions. Think about what Jesus is going through. He's got angry at the temple. He has a righteous anger because he wants the people to have a place to commune with God. And then on Tuesday, he's trying to heal. He's trying to make things right and sit with that, dwell on that, meditate on that on Tuesday. And every day this week, Wednesday, where plans are made for his capture and his death on the cross. And then Thursday, the command for all of us to serve and love one another. Sit with everything that Jesus did this week so that when we come together on Friday to mourn and to grieve, we can be there with the full emotion of what is happening. And then on Sunday, we can come together with the biggest praise that we can ever muster because we know fully to the best that we can what that meant and what Jesus endured through this week to get to that point on the cross and then to rise again. This holy week, pay attention to where Jesus wants to meet you.
Let's pray. God, again, thank you for your word that encourages so much. And God, we do wanna walk with Jesus this week. It's so encouraging to know that every emotion we feel, Jesus has felt. And so this week I pray that we would feel close to you, God, wherever we're at, whether it is a great week and we're having lots of joy and excitement and happiness, God, I pray that we would be rejoicing with you. And God, if it's a difficult week, if it's challenging, If we feel like we're the end of ourselves, God, I pray that we would be reminded of what Jesus endured and be close with you in that, to suffer whatever we're suffering through with Jesus by our side. God, I pray that you would deepen our relationship, that you would deepen our love for you so that we can come together and worship fully with you in this next week. We give you all the praise. We love you with everything we have. Help us to worship you. Help us to recognize that you are king. God, make us better servants of your kingdom. We pray this in your son's name, Amen.