17 April 2011 (Palm Sunday)
I. Introduction
-- turn in your Bibles to John 12:12-19
12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 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!”
14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:
15 “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;
see, your king is coming,
seated on a donkey’s colt.”
16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.
17 Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. 18 Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”
-- today is, of course, Palm Sunday -- it marks the start of Holy Week -- the holiest and most important week of worship in the Christian church
-- it starts with Palm Sunday -- goes through Maundy Thursday -- Good Friday -- and finally ends on Easter Sunday -- as we gather together to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus
-- one Palm Sunday, little 5-year-old Johnny had a sore throat and really didn’t feel like going to church -- so his family let him stay home with a babysitter -- when they got back to the house, they were carrying several palm branches -- just to let you know, on Palm Sunday a lot of the larger churches actually pass out little palm fronds and let the people wave them during the service as a reminder of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem almost 2000 years ago -- and evidently that’s what Johnny’s church had done
-- well, when Johnny saw his family come walking in with those palm branches, he wasn’t happy -- Johnny said, "Where did you get the palm branches? What are they for?” -- Johnny's older brother said, "People held them over Jesus' head as He walked by" -- Johnny looked disgusted and said, "That's just great -- The one Sunday I don't go to church and Jesus shows up!"
-- well, that’s exactly what this passage in John is all about -- it’s about Jesus showing up -- it’s about God coming to town
-- in order to really understand the significance of what is going on in this passage and what had been going on over the past 3-4 years in Israel, you need to understand some history
-- the Israelites were God’s chosen people -- out of all the people in the world, God had chosen the Israelites to be His special people -- God had called their ancestors -- Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob -- and promised to be their God and to bless them and all the world through them
-- He led the Israelites out of captivity in Egypt across the Red Sea -- He led them through the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land -- appearing as a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night to show them the path they should follow
-- God had spoken to them through Moses and Joshua and many, many prophets -- He had given them the law and they had written down and protected His word for thousands of years
-- the people had enjoyed their special relationship with God for a long time -- but one day, God quit talking -- it was a difficult time in the nation of Israel -- the people had once again turned from God to worship idols and to trust in their own strength -- in the past, God would send a prophet to them and warn them of their sins and would call them to come back to Him -- He would restore them to the land and restore His worship in the temple
-- but this time, instead of sending another prophet into the world to warn them and lead them back to Him, God just quit talking
-- God spoke through the prophet Malachi -- the last prophet in the Old Testament -- and warned the people to turn back to Him -- He told them to return and to worship Him again with all their hearts and souls and minds and strength because the end was coming -- the great Day of the Lord would soon be at hand when they would be judged for their sins -- and when Malachi wrote down all that God had told him to write and he proclaimed it to the nation of Israel, God stopped talking
-- for 460 years, the people of Israel had not heard a word from their God -- God had never left them before -- even in their sins, God would speak to them and would call them home -- but now, no one heard from God -- there had been no prophets for almost 500 years -- so the people did what they knew to do
-- they continued to go to church -- they continued to offer sacrifices -- they continued to go through the motions -- but there was no inspiration -- there was no word from God -- there was no indication that He was near
-- God was silent and the people suffered and wondered and hoped -- until one day, a man dressed in camel hair and wearing a leather belt appeared in the wilderness proclaiming the coming of the Lord and calling people to repent
-- and, as John baptized people in the Jordan River, the people wondered if this could be the messenger that Malachi told them about in the last book of the Old Testament --- the one who was going to be like the prophet Elijah and who would prepare the way for the return of the Lord
-- and then, there was Jesus -- as the Apostle John puts it -- a great light shining in the darkness -- a man who was more than a man -- a man who spoke with power and authority -- a man who touched the blind and the lame and the sick and they were healed -- a man who knew God and who spoke with God and who seemed to be God
-- and, so, the people flocked to Jesus -- they surrounded Him wherever He went -- some came for the healings -- some came for the bread from heaven -- some came to watch the show -- but others came seeking that which they had lost -- they came looking for God and hoping to hear His voice again
-- the people began to whisper that God was back -- they began to think that God had returned -- there were rumors of a revival going on in Israel through the ministry of Jesus
-- this is really what is going on in this passage in John about the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem -- or, as we usually call it -- Palm Sunday
-- let’s look again at this with fresh eyes to catch a glimpse of what it was that drove these people to surround Jesus on that day
-- look back at verse 12
12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem
-- the city of Jerusalem was crowded that day -- faithful believers from all over Israel and beyond had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread -- we know it better as the Passover Feast
-- this feast celebrated the protection of Israel by God as the angel of death passed over Egypt and slew the first-born children in the land as the final plague on the Egyptian Pharaoh -- only those people who had sacrificed a lamb and placed its blood on the doorposts of their homes were protected and delivered from death on that night
-- as commanded in the Jewish law, every year people would come to Jerusalem to remember the Passover and to worship in the temple
-- so, as Palm Sunday began, Jerusalem was filled with people who had come to worship God -- it was literally busting at the seams with people -- and all of them had heard of Jesus and were wondering if He was coming or not
-- verse 13
. 13 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!”
14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:
15 “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;
see, your king is coming,
seated on a donkey’s colt.”
-- when the people heard that Jesus was coming, they ran out to meet Him -- John says here they took palm branches with them and waved them in the air in anticipation of His coming
-- palm fronds signified victory -- they were waved when a victorious army came back home after winning a battle -- and they were waved when the king returned back to his palace -- through their actions, the people were saying what they truly believed about Jesus -- although they might not have fully understood that Jesus was God -- they knew that God had returned and that He was speaking through Jesus -- and so the people flocked to the road to welcome the voice of God back to Jerusalem after He had been silent for nearly 500 years
-- one thing to note here is that our actions proclaim what we believe, too -- more so than our words, what we do and how we live our lives tells others what we truly believe about God and about Jesus -- do we go through our lives proclaiming Him for the world to see -- or do we act like we haven’t heard from Him in a long time?
-- the other three gospel writers tell us that the people also spread their cloaks on the road in front of Jesus as He passed -- this was symbolic of royalty -- it’s kind of like our red carpets that we put out today for celebrities and dignitaries
-- it was also a way for the people to show that they were offering themselves and their possessions to Jesus -- by placing these cloaks in front of Him, they were saying, “We trust you -- we believe in you -- take our lives and take all that we have -- be our King and restore Israel to its former glory”
-- as Jesus made His way down from the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem, the people shouted at Him and said, “Hosanna! Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”
-- “Hosanna” means “Save” -- it carries with it the idea of God delivering the people just as He had done during the Passover -- it is a cry to God for salvation and deliverance and healing
-- usually it was used just during worship as an expression of praise -- but here, the people are shouting it to Jesus, showing that they recognized Him as worthy of their praise -- as someone who was touched by God
-- verse 16
16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.
-- isn’t this verse amazing? -- “the disciples did not understand all of this” -- isn’t that the way it always is?
-- the people closest to someone can’t see them for who they really are -- sometimes it takes distance and a new look in order to fully see and understand just how special someone is -- let me give you an example of what I’m talking about
-- right now there is a miniseries on television called, “The Kennedys,” about the Kennedy family and their political dynasty, focused primarily on the life of John F. Kennedy
-- any time I’ve looked at the life of John F. Kennedy, one thing that has always fascinated me is the picture of John F. Kennedy, Jr. in the oval office -- he’s peeking out of the modesty panel underneath the president’s desk while his father, the president of the United States, is working at his desk
-- and what has always struck me about that picture is that JFK, Jr. has no idea who his father is or how important he is because he’s so close to him -- he could only understand later, when he looked at his father’s political career from a distant viewpoint
-- well, that is what is going on here in this passage -- the disciples were Jesus’ closest friends -- they had come to know Him in a special way -- they had lived with Him for three years -- they had traveled together -- they had shared meals together -- they had seen Him do miracles
-- but, because they were so close to Him, they just couldn’t see Him for who He truly was -- it was only later -- after the resurrection -- after Jesus’ ascension -- that they finally started to understand who this Jesus was that they had been with for so long and started to see Him as more than just a prophet but God Himself
-- verse 17
17 Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. 18 Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”
-- now here’s what I really want you to see in this passage -- word had spread about Jesus and what He had been doing -- especially after He raised Lazarus from the dead
-- so, when news that Jesus was coming to town spread, the entire town gathered on the street to praise His name and to wave palm branches and put their cloaks in the road
-- they had heard the stories of the miracles -- they had heard of the miraculous healings and the bread from heaven -- they had heard of the teachings and all that Jesus did -- and the people came to see for themselves if Jesus was the Messiah
-- this is always the pattern of God’s work in our world -- when God begins to move, people respond -- when they hear rumors of revival, people flock to be with God and to hear His voice and feel His presence
-- on February 3rd 1970, the students at Asbury College in Wilmore, Kentucky, were having their regular morning chapel service -- instead of preaching, the leader that morning gave his testimony and encouraged the students to come forward and talk about their own Christian experiences
-- one student came -- and then another and another -- the entire altar filled up -- and students began to confess their sins and offer forgiveness to others for wrongs that had been done and offer their lives back to God
-- this wasn’t a normal chapel service -- everyone could sense that -- everyone knew that God was truly there
-- the service was supposed to last 50 minutes -- instead, it went on non-stop for 185 hours -- 24 hours a day -- as students and faculty poured into the chapel and turned back to God with their whole hearts
-- just like on Palm Sunday, word began to spread about what God was doing -- and the revival grew and grew and grew -- people started flocking to tiny Wilmore, Kentucky -- seeking God and His presence in their lives
-- they knew God was there -- they knew He was doing something special -- and they wanted to be a part of it
-- by that summer, the revival had spread to more than 130 other colleges and seminaries and scores of churches -- there were reports of revivals occurring from New York to California and even as far away as South America
-- John tells us here about a revival that took place about 2000 years ago -- a revival that started a fire that has still not been extinguished
-- the Pharisees, who had been hoping to capture Jesus in secret, looked at the crowd and listened to their voices of praise and said, “The whole world has gone after Him.”
-- isn’t that the way it is supposed to be? -- why should Palm Sunday just be one day on the Christian calendar? -- why aren’t we expecting our churches and our streets to be filled with people looking for Jesus every Sunday? -- why should this be something that we just read about and not something that we are experiencing?
-- the message here is that revival begins with us -- if we have truly experienced the presence of God, then we should be spreading the word about Jesus just as the disciples did in His day
-- and we should expect the world to respond and to come seeking the God who saves and delivers and heals
-- so let’s pray that God would come into our hearts and into our lives just as He did that day in Jerusalem and that our churches and our streets would be filled with people running to meet Him
-- let us pray
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