Ref: Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:-10; Luke 19:28-40; John 12:12-19
Palm Sunday March 28, 2010
Independence Day celebration in the USA is nationwide. The days before and after July 4 usually witness heightened air and road travel. Tens of thousands of people go to their parents and friends live to celebrate. Only Thanksgiving rivals July 4 in importance.
But for the Jews, Passover was more than just a holiday. It was a mandate God handed to them through Moses to remember how He brought them out of Egypt with a strong hand. It must be celebrated as a festival for seven days in Jerusalem and all the children of Israel must participate: "You must remember this day forever. Each year you will celebrate it as a special festival to the LORD”: Exodus 12:14 (NLT).
[The last Journey to Jerusalem – Landmarks: From Galilee through Jericho to Bethphage at Mount Olives (Matthew 19:1, 20:17, 29; 21:1)] As the Passover was approaching, Jesus took His disciples and began the journey to Jerusalem. He had been telling His disciples He was going to be delivered to death. Many of them did not understand what He was saying.
On this day, something unique was going to happen. Jesus would not enter Jerusalem unannounced. Quite unlike Him, He would be ushered into the city with pomp and pageantry.
The Triumphal Entry, as His coming to Jerusalem for the last time is called, would involve all the multitude of His disciples, the millions of pilgrims who came to the festival of the Passover from all over the world, and of course, the leaders of the temple, the Pharisees and government officials of a city and state that were intent on killing Him.
As we look through the record of the Triumphal Entry in all the four synoptic gospels, we can learn so many lessons and I am sharing twelve of them with us today. I hope they make sense to us and benefit all of our faith.
1. Prophecy is fulfilled
As they approached Jerusalem, Jesus sent two of His disciples to go to a nearby village and untie a donkey and a colt and bring them to Him. He assured them that if the owners questioned them why they were untying the animals, they should tell them “The Lord has need of them”. And that was exactly what happened in fulfillment of a prophecy in Zechariah 9:9:
“Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
This is just one of many Old Testament prophecies about Jesus that is clearly fulfilled in His ministry on earth. We can believe that the promises of God in His word cannot fail.
2. It is the preparation of the Passover
As I noted before, this was all in the season of a great national festival, the Feast of Passover. Jesus wanted to make sure no one would be in doubt that the real Passover Lamb was coming to the festival. Coming to Jerusalem unannounced was not an option. The ideal was to get everybody aware as He rides into the city with two animals, a donkey and a colt.
There was genuinely a lot of commotion as people asked, “Who is this?” The right answer was, “This is your King”. In the future, it would also become appropriate to add a second answer, “This is your Passover Lamb”; 1 Corinth. 5:7
3. The King, meek and humble
Why did Jesus not send those two disciples to the mansion of the governor Pontius Pilate to bring his well decorated chariot of horses? Well, By all accounts, the donkey and colt was more identifiable with the people than paraphernalia of power. And as Jesus taught in Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV), meekness is a virtue. He said,
28"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
Jesus is King yet He taught us the secret of rest: humility and meekness. Just as the prophecy of Zechariah noted, He is the King yet “gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
Humility is a time-tested virtue that procures us favor and good standing. It is a lesson we must learn whether we are leaders or followers in our various life callings and ministries. Like the Amplified Bible expands Zechariah 9:9 to say, “He is patient, meek, and lowly”; we must follow in His footsteps in order to enjoy His promise of rest for our souls.
4. Giving to the King without pressure
No mention is made as to the identity of the owners of the donkey and colt. What we know is that they did not argue when the two disciples told them it was the Lord who needed the animals. What a joy must have filled their hearts to learn of the aftermath, the decorating of the animals with the disciples’ cloths, the riding by Jesus Christ, the shouting and singing that ushered Him to the city and the uproar that followed?
We can conclude that the owners would have followed those two disciples to witness what was going on. And as customary with Jesus, He would have returned the animals to them with blessings. Remember when He borrowed the boat of Peter to preach by the lake and afterwards He told him to “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch”. Peter said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing, nevertheless at Your word, I will let down the net”. When he did, he and his friends caught a great number of fish and their net was breaking: Luke 5:4-8.
The same goes for the young lad who gave Him his five barley loaves and two small fish to feed the five thousand in John 6:1-14. Afterward, twelve baskets of the leftover food were gathered. You bet that boy was the beneficiary.
When we give to God and His gospel on earth, we can expect that we would receive in return. God is never a taker who does not give back.
5. Righteousness
A noteworthy aspect of the Zechariah 9:9 prophecy is what the Amplified Bible calls, “[uncompromisingly] just and having salvation [triumphant and victorious]”. Jesus Christ represents the righteousness of God. He lived on earth like we are doing today but He did not sin like we do. He preached righteousness and justice, although many in the political arena are debating this.
In the “Woe to the Scribes and Pharisees” sermon recorded in Matthew 23, He observed in verse 23: "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former”.
Jesus wants his worshippers to be all-rounder in their relationship with Him. Righteousness is key if we want to receive anything from God. As Philippians 3:9 observes,
“Not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith”. Pray to God today to maintain a life of righteousness by faith.
6. Salvation
When the people of Jerusalem got caught up in praising Him as He rode to the city, they were shouting
"Hosanna to the Son of David!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Hosanna in the highest!"
“Hosanna” is a translation from the Hebrew word “hosha'na”, a shortening of “hoshi'ah-nna” which means, "save, we pray" (Psalm 118:25). Combined with the word “Yeshua”, it means "salvation, deliverance, welfare". Hosanna is originally an appeal for deliverance; and this was the intention of the festival pilgrims in recognition of Jesus as the Messiah.
If you are going through difficulties, you can call on Jesus with “Hosanna” to praise Him and at the same time ask for His saving help.
7. The Messiah
From His birth, Jesus had been named the Savior, Matthew 1:21: “You shall call His name JESUS, for he will save His people from their sins”. The multitudes in Jerusalem were shouting “Hosanna” to tell Jesus in recognition of Him as the Messiah who would deliver the nation from the oppressive Roman Empire at that time.
(Note that the trial of Jesus was by the Roman Governor and His crucifixion was accomplished by Roman soldiers at the command of the governor, Matthew 27:27ff. They were also to be bribed with money after His resurrection to lie that His disciples came by night to steal His body while they slept, Matthew 28:11ff.)
The lesson should not be lost on us today. Jesus is our Messiah and He alone holds the power to deliver us from every oppression, affliction, sickness and disease. He is our savior, redeemer and strong tower, our rock, fortress and refuge.
8. Jubilation and Celebration
As believers, we have every cause to join the rest of the Christian world today, generally called Palm Sunday, to celebrate the life of Jesus Christ. Our celebration should be rooted in His role as our Passover Lamb, the sacrifice that God needed to forgive all our sins and keep us in His family.
The totality of our faith is enmeshed in this final act of sacrificial volunteering that Jesus did. That is what the disciples and the pilgrims in Jerusalem were doing on that day. They were praising Him for the miracles, signs and wonders He performed. Today we not only praise Him for the same reasons but much more for our free salvation.
9. If I shall be lifted up on the earth – John 12:32
Praise attracts praise. As the jubilant disciples were heralding Jesus into the city on the donkey and colt, it was easy for the crowd and multitude of pilgrims in the city to join.
The other dimension of His being lifted up on the earth is His resurrection. It was the power of His resurrection that turned His disciples loose as great apostles and prophets following Pentecost. It was His resurrection that birthed the Church and the conviction of men like Saul of Tarsus who would take the gospel to much of the Gentile world.
We must engage in lifting up Jesus on the earth by words and songs of praise, by witnessing Him to our communities and showing the world His likeness in us through our behavior and actions
10. Naysayers
The dictionary defines “naysayer” as a person who habitually expresses negative or pessimistic views. Even when things are going well, a naysayer tries to cast gloom. That is what the Pharisees and the Sanhedrin displayed to Jesus on that glorious day of His triumphal entry.
“Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!" (Luke 19:39)
We have to discipline ourselves to not be dragged into nay saying. Do you ridicule preachers? Do you cast a pity on them rather than be encouraged by their work? Avoid traces of negativism to things of God to ensure your blessings are not destroyed by careless, even if unexpressed behavior.
11. If these should keep silent – Luke 19:40
Jesus replied the Pharisees that if His disciples should keep silent, it was not the problem for the Pharisees to handle. We cannot keep silent. We must daily engage in praising and worshiping our God, as individuals and as a body corporate. The Psalmist says, “Praise is comely for the upright” (and 147:1).
Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright. (Ps. 33:1)
Praise ye the LORD: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely. (Psalm 147:1, KJV). In other words, praise is a good and beautiful thing to do.
12. The stones will cry out
Jesus Christ warned the Pharisees that if His disciples stopped or were not motivated to praise Him, the stones would replace them. Are you motivated to praise Him on this day or you would allow the stones to take your place?
Conclusion
As Jesus rode on the donkey and colt to Jerusalem, He fulfilled another prophecy in the Old Testament:
“In your majesty ride forth victoriously in behalf of truth, humility and righteousness; let your right hand display awesome deeds.” (Psalm 45:4, NIV)
We must relate the Triumphal Entry to the dictionary meaning of the word “Triumphal” which is: pertaining to, celebrating, or commemorating a triumph or victory.
The victory of Jesus is our victory. His resurrection paved way for our resurrection. He gained the victory with His blood to spare our own. Death could not keep Him neither could the grave contain Him. Satan lost the ability to stop Him. All His enemies fell before Him. And we have been placed into the same victory as His. Therefore, we join in the celebration because we share in His victory and triumph.
If you don’t belong to Him, unfortunately you don’t qualify for His victory. Therefore, if you have not given your life to Jesus Christ, this is an opportunity to do so and you will be enlisted in His victorious army. Consider today the appropriate day to surrender your life to Jesus Christ, ask Him to forgive your sins, to come into your situation and give you your own victory as you say, “Amen”.
