Palm Sunday

Jesus rode into Jerusalem with the crowds hailing him as king on the first day of the greatest and most significant week in all of history.  Later that week, he would die on the cross for our sins, and in just one week from Palm Sunday he would rise from the dead as the firstfruits of the great and glorious resurrection of all his people.

This great celebration, this joyful journey, is totally unique in the life of Jesus.  There is mixture in it; there is paradox in it. How are we to view it?  One the one hand, what the crowds proclaimed in their “Hosannas” was true, and their celebration was appropriate in view of who Jesus is.  On the other hand, if the crowd had continued to embrace Jesus as their Messiah, he would not have been crucified less than a week later, when we hear the mob crying, “Crucify him!”  To add to that, this was not some movement that Jesus got swept up in as he made his way to Jerusalem.  No, he prompted it.  He was in control every step of the way.  And so as we behold this scene, should we rejoice or should we mourn? We don’t know what to do.

I hope to make that clear this morning.  Jesus had more than one purpose in taking his seat on that donkey and riding up to Jerusalem like a king.  First, he prompted the crowds to do what they had long wanted to do—to proclaim him as king.  And the motives of many in that crowd were not pure or godly.  Their error was tragic, and it is a warning to us.

But, second, Jesus was proclaiming his kingship and his kingdom.  Recall Mark’s approach in how he conveys to us the life and the ministry of Jesus and the great realities of the kingdom of God.  Mark is all action.  He relates a few parables and a few longer discourses, but mostly he uses Jesus’ actions to show us who he is and what he does.  When we read that Jesus healed the lame or the blind, or raised the dead, or when he calmed the storm or withered the fig tree, Mark’s point, and, really, Jesus’ point, is not simply that Jesus did these various things or had the ability to do them, but it is to teach realities—great truths!—of the kingdom of God and of the salvation that Jesus brings.  That is what Jesus was doing on Palm Sunday too.  He made use of the willing participation of even carnally minded people to act out a sort of a demonstration of his kingship and his kingdom, and what a glorious kingdom it is.

And, third, Jesus is provoking his enemies—his envious enemies—the chief priests and the leaders of the Jews, so that they would change their own plans and push for his death when and where and how his Father had determined.  This was an act of ultimate obedience and incomparable love for us.

It is these three purposes that will form the three points this morning.  First, Jesus prompted the crowds to proclaim him as king; second, Jesus proclaimed his kingdom; and, third, Jesus provoked his enemies.

Jesus Prompted the Crowds

Throughout especially the gospel of Mark we see Jesus telling people not to tell who he is or what he has done.  In Mark 1:44 he told the man he had cleansed of leprosy, “See that you don’t tell this to anyone.”  When crowds came to him, and he healed the sick and cast out demons, Mark 3:12 says “he gave them strict orders not to tell others about him.”  In Mark 7:36 he said the same thing after he healed the deaf and mute man.  Perhaps more surprisingly, after Peter rightly said to Jesus, “You are the Christ” in Mark 8:30, Jesus warned the disciples not to tell anyone about him.  Likewise, following the transfiguration, in Mark 9:9 Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.  This is known as the Messianic secret. Throughout much of Jesus’ ministry, he was keeping something of his identity concealed for various reasons.

One of the main reasons that Jesus prohibited people from telling these things was because the prevailing expectation of the day was that there would be a political Messiah who would come.  John tells us that earlier in Jesus’ ministry, just after Jesus had fed the five thousand, the people intended to come and make him king by force.  What better king could they have?  And this is the best way to gain the favor of the crowds—to give them free and unlimited food.

This is the current that had been beneath the surface throughout Jesus’ ministry.  So sometimes he had slipped away to a solitary place to pray.  Sometimes he had crossed the lake.  Sometimes he had commanded people not to speak. But he had always prevented the enthusiasm of the crowds from boiling over into social and political action.

But now, as Jesus was steadily making his way toward Jerusalem for the last time, he spent the Sabbath in Bethany, where he had previously worked a great miracle.  John 12:9 says, “A large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.”  This was a truly great miracle. And we can be sure that the feeling of the people was much the same as the last time.

Knowing all of this, Jesus sent two of his disciples bring back a donkey and her colt for him to ride on.  The time had finally come.  The secret was past.  The donkey had nothing to do with comfort or convenience in getting to Jerusalem.  Jesus had gotten from one place to another by walking all his life, and he was perfectly able to do so now.  He rode on a donkey into Jerusalem in order to enter Jerusalem in the style of the kings of old.  In the earliest prophecy about a king of Israel, the aged Jacob declared in Genesis 49:10–11, “The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his.  He will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choicest branch.”  So we see right there a donkey and her colt associated with a king of Israel. And when David declared that Solomon rather than Adonijah would be king after him, David directed Solomon to ride to his coronation on David’s own mule (1 Kings 1:33).

And consider at the time when Jesus entered Jerusalem. He came when it was swollen with people, overflowing with people, who had gathered for the Passover.  The Passover was the festival that reminded every Jew of the deliverance of their ancestors from Egyptian bondage.  Now, as they were under Roman rule, the thought occupying many minds on this occasion was no doubt, “How long will it be before we ourselves are delivered from foreign oppression?”

This thought was on their minds based on some more recent historical events.  Less than two hundred years earlier there was a joyful celebration similar to what was happening as Jesus entered Jerusalem the day.  Jerusalem had been under the domination of the Seleucid kingdom, which was a Greco-Macedonian kingdom.  The Seleucids had done everything possible to put a stop to Jewish worship, even desecrating the temple itself.  But Judah Maccabee led an uprising that reclaimed the temple from the Seleucids and enabled worship to begin again.  It was a liberation from the Greeks.  And later his brother Simon drove the Seleucids from the fortress in Jerusalem.  The Maccabees were hailed as deliverers and celebrated with palm branches.  Now, it is true that the Maccabees did not have the same goal as Jesus.  The Maccabees were aimed at liberating Israel from the nations.  That was not what Jesus came to do.  Jesus came to save his people from their sins and from Satan. But it was the pattern of the Maccabees that was no doubt what many in the crowd that day thought and expected.

Their problem, as they saw it, was the Gentile world around them.  In Jesus they saw their deliverer.  Purity would come for them when the Gentiles were cast out.  Prosperity, prominence, and power would follow.  They shouted with great hope and great joy, “Hosanna!  Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David.”  These words were true and right, and Jesus would defend the children who sang out his praises. But for many in that mixed multitude, their motives were as I have described: They had a carnal desire for present peace and prosperity.

I spoke about the historical context that they lived in and what would have given them this hope and this expectation. But the fact is that they had no excuse for their misunderstanding.  It was a deliberate misunderstanding, born of hardheartedness, worldly mindedness, and unbelief.

During his entire ministry, Jesus had shown his character.  He had shown himself not as a revolutionary. He had compassion that went out to the multitudes.  On every occasion he showed his tenderness toward the sick, the oppressed, the weak, the poor, the little ones, and the widows.  He urged sinners to come to him and find peace.

And as he rode into Jerusalem, he rode not on a stallion ready for war, but the foal of a donkey, an animal associated with the pursuit of peace.  Even the specific prophecy he fulfilled from Zechariah 9:9 speaks of peace:  “See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

And so their ill-founded joy and expectation evaporated quickly.  Jesus went up, not to take his seat in the palace, but to the temple. And the next day he would drive out those who were making money there.  Many who had once hailed him soon turned against him and called for his execution.  How tragic and how wicked!

In these people we have a prime example of two things.  First, a second-soil faith.  They embraced Jesus with great joy, but they had no root.  As we have heard recently, second-soil people are in the church.  They come. They hear. They have interest. But they don’t take the time to understand the centralities of the faith.  They don’t grasp creation, fall, and redemption.  They like the experience of being in the church, but that alone is enough for them.

The multitude on that Palm Sunday sang out true words, but they didn’t consider the significance of those words.  When you read the Bible, do you read humbly in order to understand it? Do you read as a created being, as a sinner dependent for every breath upon God, with that understanding framing how you will receive his word? When you hear the word preached, do you listen closely in order to understand what the Lord is speaking to you?  Congregational singing is a vital part of worship, but there is a danger that we get taken up with the music and give no thought to the words.

Serious, sanctified thinking is necessary.  We must understand who we are, and who God is and what he has done.  If we do, we will understand that our problem is not our circumstances.  It is not something outside of ourselves.  It is not the world around us. It is not society.  It is not a problem of money. It is not a problem of a lack of education.  Our problem is sin—our own rebellion against the true and living God.  And the solution to that problem is found in the redemption that Christ accomplished.  This will keep us from falling away when trouble comes.

The second dynamic at work in the carnally minded crowd is just what has shown up several times already in the gospel of Mark—a refusal to walk the low road of self-denial as cross-bearing disciples of Christ.  Jesus was coming, yet they did not want to humble themselves, repent, and learn from him.  They wanted only to receive the kingdom and the power and the glory now, even in their present spiritual condition.  There was no repentance, no suffering, no self-denial, and no discipleship.

But the disciples did not like that low road either.  When Jesus spoke about his impending suffering and death, Peter rebuked him. And on the Mount of Transfiguration Peter wanted to set up camp rather than continue on to face the sufferings Jesus had spoken of.

Rejection of the cross of Christ, and of their crosses personally, was also a major problem in the Corinthian church.  These people were full of petty quarrels and arrogance.  They were drawn to impressive oratory and self-glorifying displays of wisdom.  Perhaps they once were foolish, weak, lowly, despised nothings in the eyes of the world.  But then they came into themselves. Now they had grown up. Now they were somebodies. And Paul speaks to them about that in 1 Corinthians 4:8.  He says, “Already you have all you want!”  In other words, “You are full.”  Then he says,  “Already you have become rich.”  That’s a step higher.  And finally, “You have become kings—and that without us!”  That was their mentality. And Paul concludes, “I wish you had become kings.”

This spirit can also show up in children, who see no need to make a serious commitment to Christ and self-denial as long as they seem to fit in with their friends, perhaps with their friends at church, as long as their parents are not giving them too much trouble.

This spirit can also show up in a college student, who has lived for a long time under his parents’ restrictions, but now he has grown up.  Now he has moved out.  Now he is a legal adult who thinks that he no longer needs to stay as far away from sin as he has or be as careful about temptations as his parents have required.  He no longer denies himself, because he considers himself mature enough to get close and sample a little bit of what the world has to offer.

This spirit can also show up in a young adult, who may have participated in witnessing and outreach as a college student, but now considers bearing witness to Christ before the world as something for students and those younger to do.  In his mind, now he can just cruise along, enjoying a comfortable and conforming life.

This spirit can also show up later in life, when wealth has begun to accumulate, you have a reputation that seems to be established, and the practice of self-examination and repentance can silently fall to a distant memory.

This is the spirit that says, “We have become kings now. The kingdom is ours now.” There is no more discipleship, no more self-denial, no more low road of humility. But don’t look for any other than the low road of discipleship and self-denial.  It never works.  That spirit of “we have already become kings” is not a sign of maturity, as those who adopt it almost invariably think.  It is, in fact, the exact opposite.  In writing to these same people in 1 Corinthians 3:1, Paul tells them who had “already become kings,” “Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual, but as worldly—mere infants in Christ.”  How do you like that?

We never graduate from the cross.  Let us, therefore, follow the example of Paul, who wanted to be conformed to Christ in his sufferings, so he pressed on toward the goal.  Let us go to Christ, as Hebrews 13:13 says, outside the camp, bearing the disgrace that he bore. He will give us the crown in due time.  But until then, we are to be humble disciples, denying ourselves, turning from sin and turning from the world.

Jesus Proclaimed His Kingdom

As I said at the beginning, Jesus often taught by his actions.  That is what he did very visibly and very publicly on this first day of the week.

First, by riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, he was proclaiming that he is king.  See what he did.  Many were already with him in Bethany, when Jesus sent two of his delegates to bring back a colt.  I don’t know whether these who were with him, these who had come out to see him and to see Lazarus, heard the instructions that he gave to the disciples that day.  But it was in those instructions that Jesus told them to say, “The Lord needs it.”  This is the first and, in fact, the only time in the gospel of Mark that the word “Lord” refers to directly Jesus.  There is a later verse where it refers to him indirectly, when he quotes Psalm 110 in Mark 12:36–37: “The Lord said to my Lord.”  But it is here that Jesus states plainly that he is Lord.  That is the great truth that is proclaimed publicly here.

And when the colt was brought to him, the disciples laid their cloaks over it to provide a comfortable seat for Jesus.  So he sat down on it.  And as he began to ride, the disciples and the people in the crowd began to cry out, “Hosanna!”  “Hosanna” means “Save now,” or, “Save, we pray.”  In other words, Jesus is also Savior.  He is both Lord and Savior.  He is merciful to those in need, he delivers the poor from those who oppress them, and he defeats all his and our enemies.

Kings and presidents, prime ministers and judges, know that there is a king who is greater than you!  He is Jesus Christ.  He was not born in a palace.  He wore no crown.  He wore a peasant’s clothes.  But he is the King of kings.  Intellectuals and skeptics, he will let no one go on saying, “If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”  That is what he was doing that day, telling plainly for everyone to see and to know.  He declares it for all to know—those who are complacent and you who serve him.  All who know must proclaim him king.  “Hosanna!  He is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!”

These words that the crowds sang out come from Psalm 118:25–26.  This is the same psalm Jesus would quote just a short time later to say, “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone.”  He is the king, whether you acknowledge him or not.  For those who receive him as king, he brings boundless blessing.  For those who reject him, he will abandon them now and destroy them in the end.

Second, we see in the procession something about the citizens of his kingdom.  Picture what happened.  It was a sight to behold.  When the disciples put their cloaks on the donkey, Jesus began to ride out toward Jerusalem from Bethany.  But the people there did not want to be outdone by the disciples, so they took their garments and cast them on the road in front of the donkey as the donkey went along. And as they followed along, proclaiming his praise, a caravan of pilgrims who had already arrived in Jerusalem was making their way out to Bethany.  They had heard about Jesus. They also wanted to come and see him. And when they saw Jesus coming and the crowd following, they went and cut palm branches.  Then they brought their own cloaks, they waved palm branches, and they carpeted the road before Jesus.

It is believed that the original recipients of Mark’s gospel were the Christians of the church in Rome.  They had seen other triumphal processions.  They had seen Caesars and generals clothed in purple and gold riding in chariots, with their high officials, with their banners and their trumpets.  But how vastly different was this procession!  How vastly different is this kingdom!

The highest nobles are inevitably those nearest the king.  So who are Christ’s nobles?  His noblemen are not the rich and the powerful, the well-connected and the highborn.  fcWe see in the place of his nobility poor fishermen who were his disciples.  If you want to be his nobility, you must be his disciple.  His disciples are those who hear his words, obey his commands, and receive his grace.  In so doing you find the full dignity of his kingdom.  And there is no higher dignity that can be found anywhere else in all creation.  In his kingdom peasants become princes even while they remain peasants still.^[1]

This is a kingdom whose glory does not consist in riches.  The king himself was the poorest of all.  He had no house.  The donkey he rode was borrowed.  He was soon to die without even his clothes to cover him.  But he is the king of this kingdom.  He was the most selfless person who ever lived, and those who welcomed him had no red carpet to roll out, so they put down their work-worn garments before him.  This procession had no gold and no purple banners. But, as Jesus said,  “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:3).  This is a kingdom in which he who is greatest is not he who is richest, but he who serves in the lowest place and who is richest in faith.  Again,  Jesus said, “Whoever humbles himself like [a] child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 18:4).  The king calls each person in, whether he is rich or poor, and your standing in this world has no influence on your qualifications for or your standing in his kingdom.  The riches of the kingdom is the grace of God himself. It is God’s own presence, something that outshines all the glory of all the world put together.

Third, we see the nature of his kingdom.  This is a kingdom ruled by the Prince of Peace.  He made that plain by riding on a donkey, the bearer of peace.  His peace is not a fragile, external, forced peace.  We are blessed to live in a land that has not known war for a long time. But it is always an uncertain peace. And people are always hearing wars and rumors of wars. There is always the possibility of trouble coming even to our own land.

But Christ’s kingdom is a kingdom of true and lasting peace.  The great enmity that exists in the world is not between one nation and another, but between the holy God burning with wrath at man’s rebellion on the one hand, and sinful man on the other.  Jesus made peace with God for us by bearing God’s wrath in our place.  He made God to look upon us with pleasure as he looks upon his own Son.  And by his divine power, he changes our natures to be like him.  Therefore, there is peace between man and man in the church like nowhere else on earth.  The dividing wall of hostility based on categories of race, class, or nationality have been torn down.  The kingdom of God is an international body of people who are at one with each other and at one with the Lord Jesus Christ.

And, finally, Jesus taught by this joyful procession that his kingdom is a kingdom of joy.  In the celebration of a Roman triumph, there was inevitably some sorrow mixed in.  A Roman woman may have celebrated and cheered with joy, and yet wept because her husband never returned from that battle.  Children may have shouted with joy along with others, and yet they knew they would never see their father or their friend’s father again.  But in Christ’s triumph there were no tears.  “The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 14:17).

So, rejoice, you are the subjects of the king!  Sing and shout his praises.  In this world you will have trouble, but not from him.  He comes to bring blessing and peace and grace even in a world of trouble.  (GMW)  As the hymn says, “Blessings abound where’er he reigns: the pris’ner leaps to lose his chains, the weary find eternal rest, and all the sons of want are blest.”

There is no path to this liberty, this dignity, this peace, and this joy except by serving him, and doing so wholeheartedly.  Have you bowed your knee to him as king?  And if you are his bondslave, do you rejoice in his service?  Are you happy in the service of the king?  Some in the crowd that day worshipped Jesus with a true and living faith.  Bartimaeus was one.  Jesus had said to him, “Go, your faith has healed you.”  Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on that road with rejoicing (Mark 10:52).  Let us join Bartimaeus in rejoicing in this king.

Jesus Provoked His Enemies

There is another purpose Jesus had on that Sunday, and I think that will make you rejoice too.

The Pharisees, the chief priests, and the leaders of the Jews had hated Jesus from early on in his public ministry.  We first read of this in Mark chapter 2, when Jesus forgave the sins of the paralytic, and some of the teachers of the law said he was blaspheming.  Then in chapter 3 we see Jesus in a synagogue along with a man with a shriveled hand.  From the outset in that scene, some of the people there were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus.  When he confronted them directly about whether it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath, they wouldn’t budge, even as the disabled man stood there looking them in the eye.  And after Jesus healed him, verse 6 says, “Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.” So they had long desired to kill him.

In part due to their hostility, Jesus carried on his ministry for a time in the region of Galilee.  Then he began to make his way down south through the region of Perea, which is east of the Jordan (trans-Jordan).  Finally, the time appointed by his Father for him to die was drawing near, and he set out for Jerusalem.  Mark 10:32 says, “They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid.”  They knew Jesus was going right into the heart of where those who hated him most had the most power. He was very intentionally going.

His enemies had wanted to do away with Jesus secretly in their own time and in their own way.  But Jesus went up to Jerusalem riding on a donkey and being hailed by the joyful multitude because he would not allow his enemies to pull this off on their own terms, in their own time, and in their own way.  And so as he was riding up being hailed by the crowds, he inflamed their envy.  They who hated him to begin with were just filled with envy, and you could just imagine the kinds of things they said or thought.  Even if they were a little too dignified to say them out loud, you can imagine them muttering to each other: “Every time I give my gift, I blow the trumpet.  But no one seats me on a donkey and says, ‘Hosanna!’ Can you imagine? These people never treated us so well. And yet I know so much more than he knows, and he presumes to lecture me. I’ve read all of the rabbinical writings. What has he read?  My phylacteries are very long.  He doesn’t have any phylacteries.”  Their demon-fueled envy was pushed to a fever pitch.

So as Jesus entered Jerusalem, in part he was showing the strength he could have had if he had wanted it.  He could have all this multitude on his side, and they would not be able to do anything to him. He would lay down his life of his own accord. And, in part, he was pushing his enemies to make their move. They looked with bitterness on how many were following him and decided that  if they didn’t kill him soon, he was going to take over completely.  The whole world was going after him.

Why was he provoking his enemies like this?  Why was he driving on toward his death?  The simple answer is love.  He had come from heaven to die, and to die the most cruel and painful death—in fact, an eternal death—in the place of those given to him by the Father.  So intensely did he love sinners that he came from heaven to earth—yes, to hell on earth—in order to save them.  His love triumphed over his own horror at the death he would face.  His love triumphed over the purpose of the devil to prevent his mission.  His love triumphed over the purpose of his enemies to put a stop to his influence.  For those he loved and for those who by grace came to recognize him for who he truly is, this was what William Hendriksen called the triumph of the triumphal entry, the triumph of his love.^[2]

As Paul said to Agrippa in Acts 26:26, these things were not done in a corner.  Jesus made sure that all would see, that these things would happen before the eyes of Jews and Gentiles, of the high and the low, of the rich and the poor, of friends and enemies.

We know they are true.  He was lifted up before the eyes of all men that he might draw all men to himself.  And so the application for us is that we are to do as Paul said Galatians 2:20: “The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me.”  Trust in him alone.  Do not trust in your own understanding, but submit to his counsel and his direction.  Believe that his will is good.  And do his will, leaving the consequences in his hands.  Trust him for the strength and the grace to carry it out.  Live by his power.  The king who would lay down his life for us will always rule for our good.  Amen.

^[1] Charles Spurgeon, “The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem”, sermon 405, volume 7 (https://www.spurgeongems.org/sermon/chs405.pdf)

^[2] William Hendriksen, Exposition of the Gospel according to Mark, New Testament Commentary series (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1990), 439–440.