Palm Sunday – by Sam Barris

Scriptures: John 12:12-19, Hebrews 10:22-25, Matthew 27:15-26, 1 Peter 3:15-16

Palm Sunday – by Sam Barris:

Good morning everyone, have you ever been swept in the energy or the excitement or the momentum of a crowd?

Maybe you’ve been at a sports game, jumping up and down out of your seat cheering when your team has scored.

Maybe you see on TV that everyone is panic buying toilet paper and suddenly you’ve bought enough rolls to last you far too long?

Maybe you’ve been ordering at a restaurant, the waiter is going around the table, you know exactly what you’re going to get, it’s obvious – the beef burger with fries and a coke zero. Although, you’re hearing some of the other orders around the table and you’re starting to doubt whether you really want your go to burger and coke. Your last 3 friends around the table have just ordered the fish and chips and oh boy, you haven’t had fish and chips in how long? The waiter comes to you and in that fleeting moment, that last second – you change your mind. You go with the fish and chips. The food comes out and the regret starts to build up. Why did you get the fish and chips? Who orders fish and chips at a restaurant? This is going to cost you $34 when you could have gone to one of the countless fish and chip shops in Tawa and paid a quarter of that price for a tastier meal!

As you can probably tell by the length of that example, that one was a personal one and one I have learnt and grown from.

Whether it’s a crowd the size of a stadium or a few of you at a restaurant, a work meeting or just at the dinner table – we’ve all been influenced by the actions of the group or the collective mood.

Today is Palm Sunday, the day we remember Jesus, riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, days before his crucifixion on Good Friday. This is Jesus fulfilling prophecy from Zechariah and therefore Him publicly letting the people know He is the Messiah. He comes as the prince of peace, riding in on a donkey.

What I want to focus on today is what the crowd were thinking and feeling at this time, how they responded to Jesus in this triumphant entrance contrasted with the crowd’s response at Jesus’ trial, and also how we respond to Jesus – what influences us in those moments?

Let’s begin by turning in our Bibles to John chapter 12 verses 12 to 19. I’m reading from the New Living Translation version which you can follow along on the screen.

The next day, the news that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem swept through the city. A large crowd of Passover visitors took palm branches and went down the road to meet him. They shouted,

“Praise God!

Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!

Hail to the King of Israel!”

Jesus found a young donkey and rode on it, fulfilling the prophecy that said:

“Don’t be afraid, people of Jerusalem.

Look, your King is coming,

    riding on a donkey’s colt.”

His disciples didn’t understand at the time that this was a fulfillment of prophecy. But after Jesus entered into his glory, they remembered what had happened and realized that these things had been written about him.

Many in the crowd had seen Jesus call Lazarus from the tomb, raising him from the dead, and they were telling others about it. That was the reason so many went out to meet him—because they had heard about this miraculous sign. Then the Pharisees said to each other, “There’s nothing we can do. Look, everyone has gone after him!”

Growing up hearing this story, I would never quite understand the magnitude of this event. I felt like all the depictions of Jesus riding into Jerusalem that I saw made me believe that there was Jesus riding in on a donkey and maybe 10 people welcoming Him in.

While there’s not a direct statistic given to us about the number of people witnessing this, there are some clues that it was quite a large crowd.

Firstly, there was a large crowd that had followed Jesus and His disciples since they left Jericho where He had just healed two blind men sitting on the road (Matthew 20:29) so even before His entrance into Jerusalem, the crowd was already building.

Secondly, as we read in verses 12-13, there was a large crowd of Passover visitors who heard that Jesus was on the way into Jerusalem.

The next day, the news that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem swept through the city. A large crowd of Passover visitors took palm branches and went down the road to meet him.

Thousands of people would travel to Jerusalem for Passover. While I don’t know for sure, there are estimations that the regular population of Jerusalem at this time was around 20 to 30 thousand whereas at Passover time, this would jump up to hundreds of thousands. Those who would travel in for the festival would often be camping outside the city as there was no room within for them so Jerusalem was full!

Finally, as we read in verse 19, the Pharisees look on this crowd with defeat. There’s nothing we can do. Look, everyone has gone after Him!. This also leads me to believe it was quite a large crowd as they probably wouldn’t have been too worried if there was a measly few welcoming Jesus into Jerusalem.

Again, while we don’t know exact numbers, there’s enough here for us to believe, this was a very decent crowd. A lot of people laying down palm branches, praising God, hailing Jesus as the one who comes in the name of the Lord.

On the face of it, this sounds great and it would have been a very exciting thing to witness. We know how this story continues on though, Good Friday is just around the corner.

Let’s now look at how the crowd are responding to Jesus, what has led them to be here and are they seeing Jesus for who He truly is?

In January this year, American fried chicken chain Popeyes opened a restaurant in Lower Hutt. Here’s an article from the opening day:

Lower Hutt’s Popeyes chicken is proving to be so popular amongst the community that it has had to bring in traffic management to prevent long queues from spilling onto the road.

The restaurant is so popular that when it opened its Lower Hutt outlet earlier this month, customers were queueing from as early as 3am, and the queues did not stop there.

“We’re big fried chicken fans, so we’re happy we found a new spot to go,”

“We tried once but it was too busy so we’re trying a second time,”

“Maybe KFC level, maybe a little better because they’re new, you know, they like to put out the best,”

Let’s take a moment to pause and remember, my focus right now is on the crowd of people. In no way am I even starting to compare the wonder of Jesus with fried chicken from Lower Hutt.

As we know already, Jesus was building up a crowd wherever He went. There were people who were swept up in the hype as they had all heard the rumours that this man had raised Lazarus from the dead. Many were simply there to lay eyes on this man who could perform miracles. As we read in verse 17 & 18, many in the crowd had seen Jesus call Lazarus from the tomb, raising him from the dead, and they were telling others about it. That was the reason so many went out to meet him—because they had heard about this miraculous sign. These people were spectators, interested in whatever was causing this hype and rush – the hot topic of the week. These are the people who would queue at Popeyes at 3am.

In saying that, this in itself is not bad intention. People come to church out of curiosity, wanting to spectate, see what’s going on – maybe church is hosting an exciting outreach event and they’ve heard all about the friendly people there and want to head along. That’s great and I’m sure there were many people in this crowd who started off caught up in the hype and the rush of this miracle man who raised someone from the dead and then grew to truly understand why He was here and what He was here to do. I’m sure there were also people who were also attracted by the sensationalism of Jesus but that’s all it was for them – some who saw Jesus as a sensation on this day were later shouting for His death.

Another quote from the Popeyes article:

“Look at this line. Nothing’s worth this line. I didn’t even want to come but she (I assume his wife) goes ‘yes let’s go’ and then I got stuck in the line,”

There were people in the queue for Popeyes who thought it wasn’t all it was cracked out to be, it didn’t meet their own expectations. There were also people there who had the wrong end of the stick of who Jesus was and who He was going to be. A lot of the crowd saw Jesus as a new national leader, a military leader who was going to lead them to overthrow the Romans and restore their nation to its former glory. That is what they felt like they needed and they ignored the words of prophets and were blind to Jesus’ real mission. When they later realised that Jesus was not going to fulfill their misguided hopes and dreams, many of these people also turned against Him.

 We also see the disciples get caught up in this way of thinking momentarily – they also were caught up in the hype of the crowd. Later on, they realised what Jesus was doing. As we saw in our verses, His disciples didn’t understand at the time that this was a fulfillment of prophecy. But after Jesus entered into his glory, they remembered what had happened and realized that these things had been written about him. His previous words and actions, at the time of His resurrection, took on new meaning and made more sense to them. In retrospect, the disciples saw how Jesus had led them into a deeper and better understanding of His truth.

Does any of this echo with you in how you respond to Jesus in your own life?

Are we welcoming Him in, laying things down in front of Him, shouting His praises?

Or are we here following what others are doing? We’ve heard about Jesus but really, we love the energy, singing together, people to talk to, something to do on a Sunday morning. Remember – this isn’t a bad way to start but it’s not all there is.

What about when life doesn’t go our way or we put our faith in Jesus and it doesn’t give us what we think we need? We’ve believed and trusted in Jesus, put our faith in Him and are trying to live a life that would please Him but actually, why isn’t life getting easier? Do we turn away from Him and try to find something else to make our problems go away or do we remain strong and determined in our faith?

Or maybe we’re like the disciples. We’re caught up in the rush and excitement, we’re going along with the flow, life is busy and we’re just getting on with it. Stop now and think – think about the events in your life leading up to where you are now. How has God led you to this point? As we grow in our faith, let’s continue to look back and see God’s hand in our lives, guiding us through. It’s harder to see in the moment.

Why are you here? What is your foundation? Our foundation needs to be in Jesus. We need to work hard to understand God’s word, pray for continued growth of our own understanding and we need to be ready to discern. Am I here because I want to praise God in community and grow in my faith or am I here because I like the people who are here, I like singing songs, I enjoy having a cup of tea and a chat – all of those are good things but by themselves, are they going to be enough when life gets tough? Are we leaning on Jesus and putting our faith in Him regardless of what is going on? With that, are we noticing and thanking Him for working through us and guiding us in our walk with Him?

Hebrews 10 verses 22 – 25 tells us … let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting Him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.

 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of His return is drawing near.

Start with that firm foundation. Go right into God’s presence, accept that Jesus has made us clean by dying for us and hold tightly to hope. What does accepting Jesus look like? It is believing who He says He is, that He is the son of God, that He died on the cross for our sins and rose again.

With that, community is so important. Coming to church is so important. We are here to build each other up, motivate each other to do good works and show love. We gather together to share our faith and to strengthen one another in the Lord. Just like those in Jerusalem who chose to welcome Jesus, let’s continue to create an environment where He is at the center, where we can shout praises to Him as that’s happening less and less all around us.

Now, let’s look at a different crowd and how they responded to Jesus. Let’s fast forward to Friday, the day where Jesus was crucified. 5 days after he arrived in Jerusalem on a donkey with crowds praising and welcoming Him. Jesus has now been arrested and is standing before Pilate on trial.

Please join with me in reading Matthew chapter 27 verses 15 to 26:

Now it was the governor’s custom each year during the Passover celebration to release one prisoner to the crowd—anyone they wanted. This year there was a notorious prisoner, a man named Barabbas. As the crowds gathered before Pilate’s house that morning, he asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you—Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” (He knew very well that the religious leaders had arrested Jesus out of envy.)

Just then, as Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him this message: “Leave that innocent man alone. I suffered through a terrible nightmare about him last night.”

Meanwhile, the leading priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas to be released and for Jesus to be put to death. So the governor asked again, “Which of these two do you want me to release to you?”

The crowd shouted back, “Barabbas!”

Pilate responded, “Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?”

They shouted back, “Crucify him!”

“Why?” Pilate demanded. “What crime has he committed?”

But the mob roared even louder, “Crucify him!”

Pilate saw that he wasn’t getting anywhere and that a riot was developing. So he sent for a bowl of water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. The responsibility is yours!”

And all the people yelled back, “We will take responsibility for his death—we and our children!”

So Pilate released Barabbas to them. He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified.

This crowd has substituted Praise Him for Crucify Him. There is a similar hype, excitement, building off each other’s energy from what we saw from the last crowd but this is negative. There may be people here who would have happily welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem a few days before but with persuasion from the leading priests and elders and the mentality of the crowd shifting, they no longer see Jesus as an interesting novelty but a dangerous heretic. This mob won’t listen to reason or questions such as, ‘What crime has he committed?’, they want Jesus dead and gone. They are even willing to take responsibility for this, even having responsibility placed on their children. They’re not kidding about it.

Here we can really see the pressure of the crowd wearing Pilate down. He doesn’t see why Jesus should be crucified. He hesitates and questions why Jesus deserves this. He believes Jesus is innocent and under Roman law, there’s no reason why He should be put to death. His wife even encouraging him to let Jesus go due to a nightmare she had. There was a lot in favour of Jesus being let go here, but clearly not enough.

Pilate was scared. He was scared of the mob – he didn’t want a riot to break out. He was also selfish, he didn’t want this impacting his political opportunities and was worried if he didn’t do what was asked of him here, he would be worse off. He tried to claim innocence by washing his hands but his inaction caused Jesus to be crucified. 

How do we respond to Jesus when those around us aren’t also praising Him? Maybe they are indifferent or even against Jesus. You don’t have to look far to see that – I’m sure a lot of us see it very regularly – whether that’s at work, in what we see on the news and in politics, there’s a continuing shift away.

It is harder and harder to find places where Jesus is loved or even believed in. I’m sure we’ve all been in environments or seen situations like that, maybe not quite at a mob level of anger and shouting but we’ve all been in spaces where Jesus isn’t loved by all and that’s being made very clear.

How do we react? I believe the best response comes with balance because it can be too easy to go one of two ways.

We could be like Pilate and fold. We go along with the crowd for our own benefit, maybe we’re in a situation where it would just be easier to not be honest and open about your faith. We know what we truly believe but whatever situation we’re in, it would make it awkward to speak up.

It’s not easy to avoid that option either, right? We saw that from Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples, just before His trial before Pilate. He went from defending Jesus, cutting off someone’s ear to protect Him from arrest to denying he even knew Jesus three times – probably because he felt the pressure of the crowd.

We should also be careful of going too far the other way, moving away from Peter’s denial and more towards the ear chopping territory. We could be courageously standing up against the crowd in Jesus’ name and laying down all the biblical truths but if we’re approaching it in a way that is seeking to win an argument, show off, or act high and mighty over those who aren’t Christians – we’re not representing who Jesus is well.

We need to balance both of these by being steadfast in our beliefs and also allowing people to question us and providing responses with humility and kindness.

1st Peter 3v15 & 16 tell us And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ. Just like Jesus, we need to ride into these conversations on our donkey, bringing courage and peace.

In all of this today, we’ve seen that people are uncertain. We fluctuate, we can struggle to respond in the right ways depending on changing environments, differing opinions, and challenging ideas. One thing remains constant though.

Try to picture how Jesus felt riding through Jerusalem. He knew the thoughts and feelings of the crowd – some not understanding that he wasn’t there to conquer with military force, he is the prince of peace. He was surrounded by people praising Him, knowing that 5 days later they would fight angrily for His death.

What does He do? He does exactly what He came here to do. He rides a donkey through Jerusalem to fulfill prophecy and show them the King he has come to be. He sits through his trial calmly and allows everything to happen as He knows it is supposed to.

The mood of the crowd doesn’t turn Him away from His purpose. On the cross, He asks God to forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing, he dies in our place and offers us eternal life. He did that for those praising His triumphant entrance into Jerusalem, He did that for the angry mob calling for his crucifixion, He did that for the religious leaders plotting His death and inciting the crowd, and He did that for you and me as well.

After Jesus died on the cross, there was an earthquake. In Matthew 27 v 54 we read, The Roman officer and the other soldiers at the crucifixion were terrified by the earthquake and all that had happened. They said, “This man truly was the Son of God!”

Where do you place your faith? Is it in the ever changing mood of those around you? Is it in yourself and what you think is best? Or do you look to Jesus and say this, that he is truly the Son of God?

Let’s pray

Father God, thank you that you sent your Son down to die for us.

Thank you that he came as the prince of peace, riding in on a donkey.

We pray today that we can see Jesus for who He truly is and what He has done for us. May we carry that with us everyday and let it be our leading influence as we seek to honour You.

In Jesus name

Amen