Palm Sunday is one of the few events in Jesus’ life that appears in all four Gospels. Even the first Christmas only appears in two of them. Yet Mathew, Mark, Luke and John all regarded Palm Sunday as a significant moment in the life of Jesus. An event that merited inclusion in each of their biographies of Christ. So what are we to make of it?
Well, as we look at John’s account of Palm Sunday today, I’m taking my cue from a children’s song called, “Big words that end with ‘shun’”. It’s a song that celebrates the fact that all the big ideas at the heart of the Christian faith end in ‘shun’. As the song’s chorus says: “Big words that end in shun show us what the Lord has done”. Big words like incarnation, justification, reconciliation, regeneration, sanctification, glorification, and so on. Big ‘shun’ words that summarise our salvation – there’s another one! So here is Palm Sunday summarised in four more Big Words that end in ‘shun’!
Acclamation (v.12-13)
Our first big word is acclamation. Because in verses 12 and 13 we read that: “the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, ‘Hosanna!’ ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ‘Blessed is the king of Israel!’
A huge crowd had gathered for the annual Passover festival in Jerusalem, now less than a week away. As many as 2 million Jewish pilgrims flocked to the city, from all around the Roman Empire. Among them was Jesus of Nazareth. A carpenter from Galilee who had spent the last 3 years of his life healing the sick, exorcising demons and teaching with unparallelled authority. And only a few days ago he had even raised the dead, restoring his friend Lazarus to life. As word got around that Jesus was heading into Jerusalem, an excited throng rushed out to greet him. By shouting “Hosanna” and “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” they expressed their belief that the Messiah had now arrived. They were eager to see Jesus of Nazareth take the throne of Israel and rule the kingdom with righteousness and justice. The palm branches they held aloft were, at that time, the national symbol of Israel. They waved them like a patriotic people might wave their national flag today after a great sporting victory – or before a political revolution. And the revolution this Palm Sunday crowd were looking for was an end to Roman rule and a return to self-government for the Jewish nation. They believed that King Jesus had come to usher in a new golden age for Israel, as an independent, sovereign nation, blessed by God.
As we shall see in a moment, the crowd’s understanding of what Jesus had come to do, was incomplete and not wholly accurate. But we can at least admire their passionate desire to see Jesus, their willingness to praise him, and their conviction that he was indeed their God-given King. May we have a similar passion for Jesus, a similar urge to draw close to him, an equal desire to sing his praises. The Palm Sunday crowd didn’t fully comprehend Christ, but they were quite correct to acclaim him as their rightful King. And so should we.
Incomprehension (v.15-16)
After acclamation comes Incomprehension. As we read in verses 15 and 16: Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written: ‘Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.’ At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realise that these things had been written about him.
Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey not a warhorse. On a colt rather than a chariot. At the time even Jesus’ closest companions didn’t comprehend what he was doing. Only later would they realise that he rode on a donkey to confirm his identity as the Messiah, whilst at the same time correcting the crowds’ expectation of what his messianic mission would entail. You see, on the one hand Jesus was fulfilling a Messianic prophecy from the Old Testament, a prophecy that said the Messiah would arrive in Jerusalem on a young donkey. The crowd were right on that score. But he came on a young donkey, a colt – not a great stallion. For Christ had come to be a humble king, a Messiah who’d not come to conquer the Roman occupiers, but to lay down his life for the sins of the world. Rather than leading an armed revolution, Jesus had come to bring peace. Rather than become Israel’s monarch, his destiny was to be the ruler of men and women from every nation.
Had the disciples known their Old Testament a little better, they would have recognised that Jesus was fulfilling a prophecy from Zechariah chapter 9. It reads: “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.”
As John tells us, the disciples only fully comprehended the significance of Jesus’ actions on Palm Sunday after the subsequent events of Holy Week. He was a humble king whose route to glory would go via the cross. He was a servant king who would sacrifice himself to save men and women from every nation. The incomprehension of the disciples on Palm Sunday is a challenge to us today:
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- It challenges to be clear in our own minds about Jesus’ character and mission.
- It challenges us to become more familiar with all that is written about him – in the Old Testament as well as the New.
- In other words, it challenges us to know our Bibles better, so that we have a clearer picture of Christ in our hearts and minds.
Proclamation (v.17-18)
Proclamation is the next big word we encounter in our passage. Because in verse 17 we’re told that“the crowd that was with Jesus when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word.” If you were here last week you will remember the astonishing miracle of the raising of Lazarus. With merely a word, Jesus brought a man back to life four days after his death. With a single command to “Come out”, Lazarus had walked out of his tomb, still wrapped in his graveclothes. It was an astonishing sign of Jesus’ power, a miracle that understandably left a lasting impression on those who saw it in Bethany. So much so that these eyewitnesses travelled the short distance to Jerusalem to proclaim what Christ had done. They saw it as their duty and privilege to introduce other people to him. And their proclamation clearly had the desired effect, for the very next verse says that “many people, because they’d heard that Jesus had performed this sign, went out to meet him”.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if, through our own testimony about Jesus, many people we know came to meet him for themselves? Wouldn’t it be great if family, friends and neighbours were to become curious about Christ because of what we have to say about him? About who he is and what he’s done. About how he died and rose again for us. About how knowing him has changed our lives for the better. It is our duty and privilege to proclaim Jesus to those we know. Not with loud voices on the streets of Jerusalem, but in personal conversations with colleagues, friends and relations. We should all pray for God’s help to share Christ with our peers.
Opposition (v.19)
After proclamation, our fourth and final Big Word is Opposition. We meet Jesus’ opponents in verse 19 don’t we? The Pharisees.
The Pharisees, Sadducees and other members of the Jewish religious elite saw Jesus’ popularity as a threat to the status quo – as something that would lead to political instability and threaten the nation’s very survival. Their fear was that if Jesus’ popularity led to a revolt against Rome, it would be crushed and violently suppressed – potentially involving the destruction of their nation, their capital city and their Temple. But the Pharisees were mistaken to regard Jesus as a threat to the peace rather than as The Prince of Peace. As a dangerous threat, rather than a humble, heaven-sent Saviour. Like the disciples, these religious leaders had themselves failed to understand the significance of Jesus’ arrival on a donkey. And so, rather than acclaiming Christ as their God-given King the religious elite redoubled their efforts to kill him. Jesus’ life was under threat – as he himself knew full well. By the end of the week his opponents would have arrested Jesus and condemned him to death.
If we are Christ’s followers today, we too need to be prepared for opposition. This opposition may take many forms – we may face mockery, ridicule or rejection because of our faith. In other countries your career or even your life may be at risk if you confess Christ as your king. Hostility to the Christian faith continues to this day – it was not confined to Palm Sunday. We need to pray for persecuted Christians who are facing opposition around the world today. And we need to be ready to face opposition ourselves – just as Jesus was.
Conclusion
So there we have it: Acclamation, Incomprehension, Proclamation and Opposition. Four big words that summarise Palm Sunday. Four big words ending in ‘shun’ that challenge us in different ways:
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- Do we acclaim Christ as our King?
- Do we truly comprehend who he is and why he came?
- Are we prepared to proclaim him to others?
- And are we ready and willing to face opposition for our faith in Christ?
I hope so. But we certainly need God’s help, so let’s pray…