April 8, 2017

All Scripture from NIV unless otherwise documented.

The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast 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!” Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written, “Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.” John 12: 12 – 15
Today is Palm Sunday. Today we commemorate Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem some 2,000 years ago as He and His disciples went to Jerusalem to celebrate what would be His final Passover. It was the beginning of what we today call the passion week of Christ. Jesus would be betrayed by one of His own, arrested and tried in a mock trial by the Sanhedrin, the ruling council of Israel. He would be proclaimed to be a blasphemer because of His admittance to them that He was the Son of God. Jesus would be handed over to the Pilate, the governor and then be paraded before Herod who would ridicule and mock Him before releasing Him back to Pilate. Finding no basis for charges by either man, Pilate offered to release Jesus back to the people, but being stirred up by the priests, the people cried out, crucify, crucify.

But on this Sunday morning, things were different. On this Sunday, there would be rejoicing in Jerusalem because of Jesus. Let us back up for just a moment to John 12: 1 – 11. Jesus and His disciples arrived at the house of Lazarus, Martha and Mary on the Eve of what we now call Palm Sunday. This is the same Lazarus that Jesus had raised from the dead a short time before.

A dinner was given in honor of Jesus and while Jesus reclined at the table along with Lazarus and His disciples, Martha, following the traditional role of women in Jesus day, was busy in preparation for the dinner. Mary however, stayed close to Jesus and His disciples. (This would not have been kosher in the typical Jewish household in Jesus day, but Jesus was comfortable with the idea that women played more of a role in His ministry than simply cooking and serving dinner.) In an article titled “Jesus’ Extraordinary Treatment of Women” the author stated: “The familiar story of Martha and Mary in Luke 10:38-42 highlights Jesus’ acceptance and blessing of Mary’s desire to learn. She is described as one who “sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak” (Luke 10:39). This is the typical position of the male disciple. To sit at the feet of a rabbi meant that a person was one of his disciples.”

Mary took a pint of a very expensive perfume, one that Judas Iscariot said was worth a year’s wages, and poured it on the feet of Jesus. And then she did something once again unthinkable, she wiped Jesus feet with her hair. This made Judas indignant and set in motion his plan to betray Jesus to the religious elites.

Verses 9 tells us that a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was in Bethany and came to see Him and to see Lazarus whom He had raised from the dead. Many of these people were likely the ones who went ahead of Jesus into Jerusalem that Sunday morning, laying down their cloaks and palm branches and shouting Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the King of Israel.”
Bethany was a short distance to Jerusalem and there was a village called Bethpage that was near the foot of the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of His disciples ahead to the village to find an unbroken colt, the foal of a donkey. Why, when Jesus and His disciples walked everywhere during His three years of ministry, did Jesus choose to ride on a donkey this last short distance into Jerusalem on that day?

Historically, though a king would ride a war horse in times of war, when he came in peace he would ride a donkey.” In addition, riding on a donkey was the fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah 9: 9 which states: “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.” Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, the symbol of a king bringing peace. He rode in amongst the shouts of Hosanna, “Blessed is the King of Israel.” People flocked to see Him because of what they had heard about Him. It was definitely a day of rejoicing in Jerusalem. But He didn’t just pique the interest of the people who were longing for a Messiah that would break the yoke of Rome and reestablish the Kingdom of David. The Pharisees also took notice and were alarmed.

There isn’t a lot more written in the New Testament about this triumphal day, other than Jesus going to the temple and overturning the tables and driving out the money changers. Mark says that it was already late and so they went back to Bethany. It appears clear to me that Jesus wanted to make a simple and yet profound statement that Sunday morning, declaring that He indeed was the Messiah. He offered Himself as the King of the Jews to ovations by the people, and yet, presumably many of these same people were in the crowd the following Friday shouting crucify Him, crucify Him.
The rejection of Jesus as Messiah by the nation of Israel opened the door to salvation to the Gentiles. The gospel message concerning Jesus death, burial and resurrection has been preached to countless millions around the world since that time, and millions of people from all peoples of the earth have accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior in fulfillment of God’s covenantal promise to Abraham that through his seed, all nations would be blessed. Genesis 22: 18

On this Palm Sunday, I ask you to rejoice with me at the coming of the king, knowing that in a few short days we will somberly remember His death, before once again next Sunday we rejoice with the disciples with the words, He has risen from the dead!