This week Pastor Ian Heath from Garstang Free Methodist Church came to speak to us about Palm Sunday, the start of Holy Week, leading up to Jesus’ meal, trial, arrest, crucifixion and resurrection.
In Biblical times, they had major festivals. One of them was called Passover which celebrated God’s intervention in Israel’s lives, freeing them from the Egyptian slaves and bringing them to the Promised Land. Jewish men within a 20 mile radius of Jerusalem were encouraged to go to Jerusalem for this festival. There would be lots of worship, celebrations and meals in the city and at the Temple.
At these events, the population of Jerusalem would swell from 30,000 to 250,000 with all the guests! Jesus had been warning the disciples that He had to come to Jerusalem for a big event, that He would be killed by the authorities and resurrected again.
Jesus and the disciples came to Bethany, just outside Jerusalem, and stayed with their friends Lazarus, Martha and Mary, and we come to the next day, today’s passage:
1As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2saying to them, “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. 3If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
4This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
5“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.’ ” a
6The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. 8A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
“Hosanna b to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” c
“Hosanna d in the highest heaven!”
10When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”
(Matthew 21:1-10)
The King’s parade is coming. Are you going to let the King pass you by?
Have you ever got really close to somebody famous? When famous people, like politicians and royalty, are around, there are often the signs that precede their coming, such as security guards, fancy cars etc.
With Jesus triumphant entry, the signs preceded His coming. God engineered the events so that any questions about who Jesus is can be well and truly answered by looking in the Bible.
Verses 2-5 talk about Jesus riding in on a donkey. He had walked all the way down from Galilee to Jerusalem, but needed to ride on a donkey as He entered Jerusalem to fulfil prophecy. We see in Zechariah 9:9 and Isaiah 62, hundreds of years before this event, that the Saviour would enter Jerusalem humbly and peacefully riding on a donkey. Matthew picks out “humble” as one of the key words. It’s translated elsewhere in the Gospels as “gentle” and “meek”.
It was a great sacrifice for people to throw their cloaks down in front of somebody.
In 2 Kings there was a king called Jehu who was proclaimed King by some people in defiance of the existing King. His followers put down their cloaks before him as a sign of their respect.
The crowds shouted Hosanna to Jesus. The shout of Hosanna goes back to Psalm 118, which means “to save us and and help us we pray”.
They cried “Welcome to the Son of David”. This is explicitly prophetic because Jerusalem was city of David. 1000 years earlier, David had captured the city and made it his own.
Just like a great murder mystery, the prophetic clues are there and they get stronger and stronger, the more we dive into Scripture and see their fulfilment in Jesus. Are you going to let Him pass you by?
The Jewish people were praying for a Messiah to save them and set them free. They had been waiting for 400 years, where God was silent, for the Messiah to come. They were looking for Him. They expected Him to be a warrior-like military leader mixed with a superhero, based on some Old Testament prophecy. He was apparently going to kick the Romans out of Israel and end all the corruption. The Messiah was going to be a strong earthly King in their eyes.
In John’s Gospel, it says the crowds wanted to make Jesus King straight away, but He retreated and avoided it. Even the disciples got the wrong end of the stick about Jesus! Jesus didn’t see His Kingship that way. He hadn’t come to be enthroned in an earthly way, but in a spiritual way. He is the King of Kings and He came to be a Saviour, came to set them free, but not in the freedom they wanted...but the freedom they needed, and the freedom we desperately need today.
Are we going to let Him pass us by?
Today we want God just to be like they did: a King who sorts our lives out on the outside, our health and our finances and relationships, but not someone who will sort our inner spiritual life out.
CS Lewis said there is a fault line between good and evil, but it doesn’t run between people, it runs right down the middle of each of us, through our hearts. Jesus came to seek and to save the lost.
We are all lost, we have wandered far from God, we have sinned, and Jesus came to put us back together and make us truly whole. We are all struggling, spiritually and emotionally. We want a prophet and King the way we want it, not the way we need it.
Jesus is the greatest King of all, destroying sin and evil, wiping away tears from eyes. Jesus is God Himself. He came in humility, meekness and weakness, being obedient to God, even to the point of death on the cross.
Jesus came to sort out the biggest human problem: sin.
The Jews wanted an earthly King with a golden crown of prestige, whereas Jesus came to wear a crown of thorns and be spat at, before dying a criminal’s death after living a perfect sinless life.
He stood in our place of judgement so that we can stand before God as free people, free from judgement, the power and penalty of sin. This is our King. Are you letting Him pass you by?