Palm Sunday

When He came near the place where the road goes down the Mt. of Olives the whole crowed of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen.

Here we observe the total drama of God’s love for His people. .Palm Sunday is an easy scene to recreate. It is so very familiar, but what really is going on here? The reaction of the crowd was bound to have happened as it did.

I.        Raising of Lazarus

A.     Had just taken place. Just a few days at most. It was “breaking news” something unheard of had just happened.

B.     Was well known to all – How could you keep this news a secret. A man who had been dead for three days had been risen to life. This sort of thing does not happen. If it had happened what could this mean? Who is this Jesus?

C.    Brought things to a head. The hostility between the leadership and Jesus was at its breaking point. The people concluded that Jesus must be the promised prophet predicted by the prophets of old. Could this be the long expected Messiah, the one who would deliver them of all their woes? To the leadership this was the straw that broke the camel’s back. He was at the height of popularity. They could feel their power and influence slowly slipping away. Naturally Annas would counsel his peers “It is expedient that one man die for the sake of the nation.”

2.     The crowd’s reaction

A.     The leaders completely missed the point (they asked Him to quiet the crowd!) They feared a riot. The last thing then needed was an uprising during the holiday.  They could loose everything.  

B.     The people no less miss the point also. They too were clueless.

1.      They linked Him to the Psalms the one who would come in the name of the Lord.

2.      They should have linked Him to the rest of the Old Testament – the suffering servant – the one who would come to visit His people and bear their sin.

3.   An explanation of the crowd’s turn

A.     They were fickle as most are even to this day. If they don’t get immediate satisfaction they will turn. e.g. political leaders, sports teams, athletes, etc.

B.     They expected a political Messiah one who would care for their every need. They could care less for his spiritual musings they had little use for Him in that respect – He was not a Savior capable of saving, so they turned on Him.

1.      He showed He was not such - “My kingdom is not of this world”

2.      They became disillusioned – “then save/heal Thyself!”

The problem of the Palm Sunday crowd was one of misunderstanding. The people, the leadership of the people thought He was something He wasn’t because they didn’t know who He was. If He were to come to our community today, might the same thing happen? Do people really understand who He is? Our mission; proclaim a changeless Christ to a changing world.

image by Google