Here Comes the King
Palm Sunday
Matthew 21:1-11 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples,2 saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.”4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, 5 “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.'” 6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. 8 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” 10 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
There were literally thousands of visitors in Jerusalem on this Palm Sunday back in 33 A.D. Why? Because it was the beginning of the most holy season for the Jews. This Sunday was the day that the Passover Lamb for celebrating the Passover was selected, a lamb that would then be slaughtered a few days later for the sins of the people. That’s why everyone was there in Jerusalem on that Palm Sunday: thousands were there for the selection of the lamb and the upcoming Passover.
However, instead of this day back then being about the selection of a lamb, it also turned out to be an unexpected and somewhat wild celebration and parade for a king. Jesus. His fame had spread like wildfire. Either you hated him or you loved him. And whether you hated him or loved him, what could not be denied was his amazing power coming in the form of hundreds of miracles. And what also could not be denied was somehow or another he was proclaiming himself to be the coming King of Israel, the coming Messiah, and even the Son of God. And the thousands of people, in some sense, bought it.
The problem for the Jews was that, soon after this day, they began to be confused as to whether he was this king. Here’s an illustration to help explain this.
Let’s suppose a new professional boxer comes on the scene. And he’s really good. He wins every match: his first fight, his second, his third, his fourth; all of them within three rounds, all by knockouts. And the wins continue: his fifth, his tenth, his fifteenth, his twentieth. He is so good his opponents never lay a blow on him; nobody comes close. They are all knocked out cold within three rounds. And everyone knows this. The number of his followers increases. For sure this amazing boxer has his enemies, but his supporters and admirers grow and grow. He is loved, honored, and praised by thousands and thousands.
And then comes his twenty-first fight for the championship. You are there with a ringside seat. The music and the lights get louder and brighter. He is announced. He enters the auditorium and starts walking down the aisle with his entourage. The crowd goes wild with cheering. “You’re the champ! You’re the king. One round is all you need. We know! We have seen you in action!”
This is what we see taking place on Palm Sunday as Jesus emerges on the road from Bethphage to Jerusalem with his twelve disciples. The King is coming.
For the crowd knew of his record: his undisputed miracles: he made food for thousands out of next to nothing, twice; he calmed storms; he healed dozens and dozens – instantly and completely, he even raised several people from the dead; and he had complete power over demons who were no match for him. On top of that no one, not even the Pharisees, Saducees, and biblical lawyers could beat him in a debate (they ended up looking like fools). He was undefeated in word and deed. No one had come even close to defeating him.
So, this crowd on Palm Sunday rightly yells out to him well-deserved words and titles like, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!” (Matthew). “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” (Mark). “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!” (Luke). “Blessed is the king of Israel!” (John).
Back to the boxer and his twenty-first fight. He steps into the ring, the bell sounds, and the fight begins. But this time he does not throw any punches, he does not defend himself, and the only time he raises his arms and gloves is to stretch them out to the side so his opponent can beat him mercilessly. And before the end of round one, the fight is over, and the one thought to be the champ and the king is out cold. The crowd is flabbergasted. “What’s going on? We believed you were the champ, the king! You’re not who we thought you were!” So, the very ones who supported this great boxer, who cheered him on, who followed him, who praised him, now turn against him and boo him and mock him.
Maundy Thursday, 33 A.D. The King, Jesus, steps into the ring. The bell sounds, and the fight begins. His enemies approach him in the Garden of Gethsemane, and they arrest him. But he doesn’t put up a fight. He is put on trial before the ruling council and priests where he is falsely accused. He makes no defense. They spit in his face. He does nothing. He is dragged before Pilate where again he is falsely accused, choosing to remain silent, except still saying he is a king, and he is the Son of God. He is tied to a post and scourged with a whip so that he bleeds profusely, he has a crown of thorns pounded into his head, he is beaten, he is taunted. He doesn’t even raise a raise his hands to protect himself. But finally, finally, raises his hands and arms, but only because they are nailed to a cross, and then he dies. The champ, the king, loses. He never defended himself, though he could have. He never put up a fight, though he could have, and could have won easily.
Now we can understand the confusion the Jews. Their king, who shouldn’t have lost, went into the ring determined to lose, you might say. And he did lose, in one sense.
But what those Jews, back on that Palm Sunday in 33 A.D., did not understand was this: Not only was this the procession of the King into Jerusalem, but it was also the day the Passover Lamb was to be selected. They did not put these two together. For hundreds of years, the Passover Lamb was chosen on this day, an innocent lamb whose blood would be shed and who would silently go to his death. The Lamb and the King were one and the same on this day.
But there was another thing they did not understand back then: this King came not to conquer earthly enemies and powers, like the oppressive Roman empire and its Caesar, but he came to conquer sin, a conquering that could only be accomplished by a Lamb. As we read in Is. 53: He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken. … He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.
So, on this Palm Sunday, Jesus was saying, “I have come as a king to conquer. To defeat, to destroy your deadliest enemy. One that that is a part of you, one that you have sided with, one that you have treasured, one that – even though it will destroy you in the end – you don’t want to let go of: your sin. And the only way I can conquer it is to be the Passover Lamb, to shed my blood, to sacrifice my life, to suffer and die because of that sin and for that sin, a sin that is yours. As the apostle Peter said, “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.” (1 Pet. 3:18)
We read in John’s account of Palm Sunday that after the procession there is a group of Greeks at the Passover celebration. They come up to the disciple Philip and said, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus,” apparently because they wanted to be a follower of Jesus. So Philip tells Andrew, and Andrew tells Jesus. And Jesus responds strangely. He says, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds… Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour… when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to myself.” (John 12:23-33). They wanted to see Jesus, they wanted to be a follower of Jesus. And if that’s the case then they would have to find him, see him, and know him in his death on the cross. That’s the way it works, for them, and for you and me. For there and only there was our enemy conquered.
We have a King, brothers and sisters. But he’s a King who conquered by being conquered. He was the conquering King by becoming the Passover Lamb, our Passover Lamb. We see our sins as our deadliest enemy. And we fear them, and we hate. That is what is called repentance. But then also, we see them all on Jesus, that he bled for them, that he died for them. And if we believe that he took them all upon himself as the Lamb of God, then we have faith. It is this faith that saves.
Amen.
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