Palm Sunday： How ＂Hosanna＂ Turned to “Crucify Him” in Five Days
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Summary
In this episode, Pastor Ken teaches about the importance of remembering the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He uses the story of a man who remembered the day that his father died, and why it is so important to remember it.
Transcript
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Well, I want you to imagine a man whose father died saving his life.
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He was young when it happened, too young to really understand it.
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He got responsibilities and work and children and all the things that go on with a career
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and distractions, and slowly that memory faded.
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I think any of us can think of memories when we were children, and we can see that those memories do fade.
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And when it fades, the problem with that is that it begins to lose weight.
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You begin to forget the significance of those particular events when you were young.
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And it wasn't shaping this man anymore the way that it used to be when he was a child.
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And so at the age of 30, he decided that every year on the day that he was saved, where his father had died,
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that he would return to that place to remember that, to memorialize this particular moment
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and to tell that story again. Now he wasn't doing this just to tell others about the story. He was
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really actually doing it to tell himself the story. That essentially that's what we're doing
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with Holy Week. We have Palm Sunday. We have Maundy Thursday. We have Good Friday. We have Easter
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Sunday. That's essentially what we're doing here. We are memorializing. It is something worth
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remembering. Christ died for us, and like that man, we are a forgetful people. We are a forgetful
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people. Not forgetful in information. I think we understand, we remember the actual event,
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but we're forgetful in our affections. Our affections start to fade away over time, and we
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drift and we get distracted and we lose the significance of Christ's sacrifice. We lose
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the significance of this particular week. And if we don't memorialize it, it's easy for us to be
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like that man. And years later goes by and we go, I don't even really have the affection that I
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ought to have for these particular events that shaped and changed my life. And so to remember
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it, we memorialize it. That's what we're doing today. And this is not, again, some biblically
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foreign practice. In fact, we actually see this very much in the Old Testament. The apostles
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even writing this down. The apostles wrote this down as a way to memorialize this, as a way to
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remember it. It is something that we can look at and go, oh, that is something worth remembering.
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But God has always, by the way, used memorialization as a way to mark significant
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events so that we might not forget them. We would build altars, and as we would walk by these things
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in the Old Testament, we would see that altar that we might remember. We would do things like
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the Passover. We would have certain customs and traditions and feasts and festivals that we might
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remember the things that are signified behind them. That's something that we do. And what is
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more significant than the life, death, and resurrection of Christ? I think it's very strange
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that we are a celebratory people, okay? And we understand, and by the way, our enemies understand,
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that the calendar is very important. What is on the calendar is what a particular culture
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celebrates. We know that the LGBT community has over, I think, I think over 150 days on the
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calendar that they have co-opted as a way for us to make sure that we commend and celebrate which
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is evil. And so it's very strange for me to see Christians not want to celebrate the church
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calendar. We have a historic calendar around the life of Jesus, around particular events that have
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occurred in church history, and instead of celebrating those things, we reject them,
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and we celebrate these pagan holidays all together. It's very strange. We should be celebrating
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Christmas, and we should be celebrating Easter, and we should be celebrating Advent, and we should
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be celebrating Good Friday. We should be celebrating some of these great saints days that we can
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If we're going to celebrate, let's celebrate Christian things.
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Philippians 4.8 says, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, think about those things.
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It is a great thing to think about these things.
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So, Palm Sunday marks Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, where he is publicly revealed for the very first time as the Messiah, or as the King of Israel.
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Now, theologically, it shows both the recognition of his kingship by some, and also the misunderstanding of how that kingdom was to come about by others.
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and it showed how many praised him for what they wanted him to be
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and not for who he really was and so there was a misunderstanding from a lot of people
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though there were some who understood the significance of the moment ultimately palm
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sunday is the doorway to the cross it is the doorway to the cross and it reveals that the
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true reign of christ would be established but not through an immediate uh military enforcement
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It's not through this immediate military enforcement,
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but it was actually the kingdom of God would be enforced,
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and he would conquer his enemies through conversion.
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Every one of you were an enemy of Christ until Christ conquered you.
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And we know that through atonement and through redemption
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and by the power of the Holy Spirit and the gospel going forth into the world,
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It started off with a handful of people, and now we're at, what, two to three billion people.
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Do we believe the Great Commission is not going to be fulfilled?
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No, we trust that Christ will continue to conquer his enemies through conversion
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and Christianize the world to the glory of God.
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Now, Holy Week is not something that we invented or structured.
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It has a distinct beginning and a distinct end.
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And in our text today, we're going to see that Christ arranged
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a unique and intentional entrance into Jerusalem.
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Let's read it in Matthew 21, verses 1 through 11.
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It says, Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives,
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then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, Go into the village in front of you,
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and immediately you will find a donkey tied and a colt with her.
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If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, The Lord needs them, and he will send them at once.
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This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,
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Say to the daughter of Zion, Behold, your king is coming to you humble.
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and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.
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Now, up to this point, Jesus had largely concealed his ministry. Okay, so this is a significant
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shift in contrast, by the way, because all the way up until then, it was, my hour has not yet come.
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My hour has not yet come. Do not go tell anybody about what has been done. Over and over again,
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he's hiding and concealing his identity. And he did this because Israel had misguided expectations
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of who the Messiah was to be. They were constantly trying to crown him. John chapter six,
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hey, let's crown him. No. And he goes away into the wilderness. It's over and over again. They
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had these expectations of a military ruler that is going to come in and create this Roman or take
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over this Roman rule. They were not looking for the suffering servant of Isaiah 53. They were not
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looking of the Lamb of God that would take away the sins of the world that John the Baptist says
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in John chapter 3. Actually, John chapter 1. They were looking for the conquering king, the Lion of
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Judah, that would rescue them from this Roman oppression. That's who they were looking for.
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That was the theological comprehension of the day, and that was taught by the Pharisees.
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and this phrase the lion of judah comes from genesis chapter 49 where you see jacob is
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prophesying that the scepter or the right to rule would be given to his son judah and that the
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messiah would essentially come from him now this was further uh clarified in other prophecies
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throughout the old testament and this is important because it sets this kind of historical theological
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contextual understanding and expectation for the messiah in israel so this is who they're waiting
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for. This is who they're expecting. Now, as we see, Jesus sends two disciples to go get a donkey
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and a colt, okay? So, think about this for a second. He's asking you to go into town and to
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just grab somebody's animal, and now animals were very costly. They're very expensive, very important,
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And, hey, I want you to go and grab not just one animal, but two animals.
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And I just imagine just the nervousness of the apostles walking into town and going,
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And you're retrieving this without some sort of resistance.
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And if somebody, the owner walks out, it's like, hey, what's going on?
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and I just want to point out that because that happened this moment is in itself like a quiet
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miracle okay it's a very quiet miracle of Jesus and it shows that he has this authority and
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foreknowledge and it certainly would have confirmed Jesus's identity even further with those two
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disciples I just imagine if that happened and I had to say the Lord needs these and the guy goes
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oh, then take them. I would have been, wow, okay, Christ is certainly, has some sort of authority
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and foreknowledge that is divine. It would have further confirmed his identity. Now, in verses
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four through five, Matthew cites Zechariah 9.9, and it says, quote, rejoice greatly, O daughter
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of Zion. Shout and triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king is coming to you.
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He is just and endowed with salvation, humble and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
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All right, now it's important to know in the ancient Near East, kings rode on horses when they came for war.
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Kings rode in on a horse or rode out on a horse when they were going to war.
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but when they rode donkeys, especially kings riding donkeys, it was a symbol of peace.
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It was a symbol of a peacetime era. And so by entering into Jerusalem on a donkey,
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Jesus is not only affirming that he is a king, but he is also affirming that he comes not for war,
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but for peace, not for immediate judgment, but to bring salvation. He is to bring peace
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between God and man through himself, the Messiah, Jesus Christ. In verse 6 and 7, it says,
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the disciples went, and they did as he had directed. They brought the donkey and the colt
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and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. And the them there is the cloaks, not both donkeys.
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And so it says, well, let me just point out another miracle here, okay? There's another
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miracle that's happening. These are subtle miracles that I think you'll just start to
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appreciate. Everything that Jesus does is just incredible. And when you start to realize at the
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kind of molecular level that he's controlling all things, our neighbors have several donkeys,
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okay? I'm around donkeys all the time. I hear them braying often. And a few months ago, a cult
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was born. And we got a chance to see this baby, you know, one night, the mother's pregnant. The
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next morning, we see this baby that's out there. The cult is now about the age of the one that
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Jesus is about to ride, okay? So it's really fun to just drive past our driveway, and you can see
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this kind of baby donkey, and you go, wow, that's really kind of a situation. Mother is bigger,
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colt is smaller, and you can see that that's probably around the age that Jesus rode on this
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colt. Now, colts, unlike mature working donkeys, they're not broken, okay? They're not broken
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animals. And I've watched this donkey run and buck and kick, and I think there's a reason when we see
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someone do a really strong kick, we call it a donkey kick. And they're known for kicking. They're
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known for being stubborn and unpredictable, especially when they are young. It's a very
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common reality. And so for Christ to ride an unbroken cult into a crowd, a massive crowd,
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with thousands of people in a chaotic crowd, people that are shouting and now laying down
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branches and palm branches and jackets on the road without this animal being spooked and freaking
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out and throwing Jesus off of it. I think it's just another clear miracle that Christ is not
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just commanding the moment. He's commanding creation. He's actually commanding this animal
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to walk through this chaotic moment calmly, and I was just reading that, I was thinking,
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this is kind of a miraculous thing, and you might be thinking, well, maybe the cult was
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already broken. No, you're wrong, actually, because it says in Luke's account of this
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particular event, it says the cult, it says, quote, on which no one has ever sat, end quote.
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No one has ever sat on this cult, and Jesus is like, hey, you know what, cult?
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we're going to go into a crowd with thousands of people yelling, throwing things. I don't know if
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you're around animals. Like if you throw like a flag in front of a horse, it's like panic mode.
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Okay. Imagine just giant palm branches throwing down, you know, lining the road, people cheering.
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And this, this cult is just cruising with a person on its back for the very first time.
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So again, it's just one of these things you just go, I'm just going to, I'm just going to say,
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I think Jesus is actually controlling not just the moment, but also creation in this time.
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And so for the first time, Jesus demonstrates publicly his identity.
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That is, to those who understood the prophecy, they would know that their king was here.
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But for those expecting kind of this Roman crushing king,
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it would have been confounding to see the Messiah on this donkey,
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not in a chariot or a horse, not with military force, but again, humble, riding on a colt.
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It would have been difficult for them to understand, especially at this particular time.
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Now, ultimately, this aligns with God's constant use of paradox.
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God is a paradoxical God, constant counterintuitive expressions of his sovereignty over reality.
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So we see that the Messiah is both the Lion of Judah, and he is the Lamb of God, right?
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He's both the conquering king and the suffering servant.
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He's the warrior that's killing and slaying thousands, and he's also the great poet of the Psalms.
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It's this constant paradox and counterintuitive reality that's trapped into one man.
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And again, this shouldn't shock us because Jesus' entire life is counterintuitive.
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What is up is down. What is weak is strong. What is strong is weak, right? What is fast is slow.
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What is slow is fast. He's this king that is born in a manger. It's strength wrapped in weakness.
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It's God born in a body. I mean, everything that he does is constantly paradoxical and
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counterintuitive, and it's amazing, and it's difficult for the carnal mind to even understand
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it. We look at it, and we're like, I don't like that, or I don't understand that. Of course,
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Jesus is always working in ways that are counterintuitive to our flesh.
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But for those who knew the words of the prophets, this entrance was unmistakable.
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He's literally walking and he's saying, your king has come.
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Now, the triumphal entry is recorded in all four Gospels.
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I want you to pay attention to this for a second.
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The triumphal entry is recorded in all four Gospels.
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Now you might think, oh, well, okay, that's not a big deal. It actually is. It's extremely rare
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to have something in Jesus's ministry recorded in all four gospels. You can't say that about
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his birth, about his temptation, about the transfiguration, about his time in the garden
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of Gethsemane. This is a significant moment that's recorded in every single gospel. And so this is a
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vital moment of fulfilled prophecy. And had he not done this, had he not ridden on the colt,
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had he not fulfilled Zechariah 9, 9, the nation of Israel might have claimed ignorance for who
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Jesus was. They might have had an excuse to say, you know what? We didn't really know who this man
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was. So he's fulfilling prophecy to hold them accountable for his crucifixion. That's what's
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happening here behind the scenes. This act removed all excuse and made his identity unmistakably
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clear, especially to those who understood the prophecy. Now, verse eight says, most of the
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crowd spread their cloaks on the road and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on
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the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting Hosanna to the son
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of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. Now, one detail
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you cannot forget about this whole time. Okay, my job as a preacher is to bring you into the world
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of the Bible, and you need to understand the historical and cultural context of what's
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happening here. This is Passover week. This is Passover week when this is happening. The population
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of Jerusalem is regularly somewhere between 50 and 100,000 people at this time, but during Passover
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week, it's about 500,000 people. About 500,000 people in this very relatively small city of
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Jerusalem. And so for three years, Jesus had been preaching and performing miracles. And at this
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point, his ministry and his reputation is how big? It's massive. It's massive. He has crowds by the
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thousands following him. And just right before this, he had resurrected a man from the dead.
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Lazarus has come back to life just weeks before this. It's just two miles southeast of Jerusalem
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in Bethany. And close enough that you can actually have that reputation of that moment
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to come into Jerusalem, and you have Passover week coming in, and everybody knows at this point
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who this man Jesus is. We know the road to Emmaus, the two men are talking, and Jesus walks up to
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him, and he's like, what are you talking about? He's like, are you new here? Have you not been
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walking around Jerusalem? Have you not heard about this guy named Jesus? And so then, at the very,
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one of the most well-known and anticipated Messianic prophecies
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orchestrated moment. Not only was it orchestrated to let people know that
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was king but this was orchestrated to let the pharisees get fired up enough to kill him not
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only is he working on making sure that people know who he is who actually would support and
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believe in him but he's also antagonizing those people who are ready to kill him and so he has
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this apex moment there probably there couldn't have been a more climactic time for him to do
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this particular moment or fulfill this particular prophecy. So this was the moment of his public
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revelation. In a sense, his hour had come. Now it was customary in that time to lay down garments
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or coverings on the road for royalty or for a king returning from a victorious battle. That
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was something that happened quite often. It was a way of saying you are not worthy to walk on the
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roads as we walk. We must cover these roads for you because of your royalty. It's the same
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function that we actually have with the red carpet today, right? You're rolling out the red carpet.
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You're not going to walk just on this road. You're going to walk on this red carpet. It is a
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form of imputed dignity, imputed dignity. Now, Matthew tells us that they spread branches on the
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road. But John's account specifically says that they spread palm branches on the road. And this
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is important because it's why we call it Palm Sunday. But palm branches are not random either.
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In fact, palm branches were historically associated with the Maccabean Revolt and some sort of
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political victory. And so this was more than a gesture of honor. These people understood what
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they were doing it was a declaration of victory it was saying our messiah is here and we're going
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to lay these palm branches down and look rome we are about to conquer you that's really what's being
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said at this moment they're welcoming a conquering king and we know that that was their intention
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because in addition to these palm branches and the laying down their clothes they were actually
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shouting hosanna to the son of david well who's that's a title that's a messianic title right
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Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. Now, these phrases,
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they come from Psalm 118, verse 26, and they also echo some other categories of Old Testament
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scripture. But Hosanna means save us now. Save us now. And they're not talking about save us from
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the wrath of God because we've broken the law. That's not what they're saying. No, save us now
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from Roman oppression, make us the key people of the world. And so the crowd is not just
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celebrating, they are calling out to Jesus as the one they believe can rescue them. But again,
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not from sin and from judgment for their failure to obey the law, but from their oppression of
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the Roman empire. So that's the context of what's happening here.
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Now this is what makes the later scene in Matthew 27, 22 through 23, so critical.
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Just a few days later, Matthew records this, Matthew 27, it says,
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Pilate said to them, then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?
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They cried out all the more, let him be crucified.
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You're talking Sunday, arguably some people say Monday, to Friday, right?
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You have this situation going from Hosanna in the highest to crucify him in a matter of days.
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One ancient philosopher said, those who cheer at your coronation may be the same who cheer at your execution.
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The people who will cheer at your coronation will then also cheer at your execution.
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The fact of the matter is that it happened in five days is incredible.
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And I think this reveals the fickleness of man's loyalties.
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One moment, we're praising a particular person because of what they can do for us.
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The next, we are condemning that same person because he let them down.
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it's not just happening in jesus's life it happens in our politics today
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in fact many people would actually kill people if the law allowed them to it's just as violent
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it shows that we are a double-minded and a double-minded men and our loyalties are easily
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swayed we are fickle we are fickle it's actually quite amazing when you see someone that follow
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has followed christ for 20 or 30 years and that's because the only reason it is is because the holy
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Spirit is preserving the saints. It's a mercy of God that he's continuing to keep you faithful
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because we are not, without Christ, a faithful people. And we can see that in our own relationships.
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Look at the church today. It's an absolute divisive mess
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because we cannot remain consistent and loyal. We must continue to move on over and over again.
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verse 10 says and we went when he entered Jerusalem the whole city was stirred up saying
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who is this and the crowd said this is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee
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now at first what what I want you to catch here is at first
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they recognized his kingly office so he's walking in he's the king the son of David king
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now after this had happened now they're recognizing his prophetic office
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he's the prophet jesus of nazareth but it won't be until after the resurrection
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his death and resurrection that people start to begin to realize his priestly office
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and so you have three offices prophet priest and king in that order really in this particular
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order as king, prophet, and priest. That they start to recognize that Jesus is fulfilling
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all of these realities. So as I close here, ultimately we should understand
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the triumphal entry in the same way that we understand Good Friday. I think it's a similar
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comparison. Yes, it was triumphant in its loud praises. People were triumphant, you know, wow,
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it's a triumphal entry. Look at Jesus coming and Hosanna in the highest. But those praises
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were temporary. The triumph in that particular moment was temporary. The same voices, again,
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that shouted Hosanna just a few days later are shouting crucify him. It's temporary. What looked
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like hope turned into a brief moment of despair and then also led to the greatest victory of all
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time. So just think about this for a moment. It's like massive levels of hope and triumph
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followed by maybe one of the most steep plummeting moments of despair followed by the greatest
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victory of all time. Just think about how emotionally distressing that week had to have
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been for the disciples, right? You're just going, wow, Jesus is finally revealing what we've known
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about him for a long time. And he's, we're finally going in and we're going to be conquering. Maybe
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we're going to be a part of Jesus's kingly court. Maybe we're going to be in power. These are all
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the thoughts that had to be going in and out of the apostles' minds. And he's going in there,
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Jesus is going, I'm a king that's coming in here to die. But the apostles don't really grasp this
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quite yet. So it's a huge peak moment, followed by this massive steep drop in despair, followed by
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this absolute victory that is the greatest accomplishment in all of human history. So this
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is just an emotional roller coaster to the extreme for anybody that understood what is going on.
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And just like Good Friday, it's not good in the moment. It's not good in the moment. It marks the
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crucifixion of Christ but it's good in what it accomplished right it secures the atonement it
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saves his people from sin and so the lesson is this what appears at first to be good
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God may allow or turn and allow evil temporarily to win for a moment but then we have a God who
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causes all things to work together for good for those who love him and are called according to
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his purpose and so the same week started with this triumph and it looked like satan was winning
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we had betrayal we had rejection we have crucifixion was actually the moment that god is securing
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redemption for all of his people for all time and so this pattern is not only seen in christ i
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actually believe this pattern is seen in every one of your lives including mine how often have
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you seen trial and tragedy and discipline and just disaster and suffering give way to triumph?
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How many times? I don't know about you, but I've seen it happen many, many times.
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It seems I'm winning. Oh my goodness, it's dark. Oh my goodness, God ripped me out of the darkness
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and I'm winning again. It is this constant up and down reality. God keeps us on the edge of our seat.
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how many times have you watched that suffering turn into some sort of blessing that discipline
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turn into maturity it happens all the time and so do not judge God's work in your life
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by the moment that you are in that is the lesson imagine being James or Peter and you're like
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I know exactly what's going to happen this week no you don't no you don't in fact it is going to be
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the exact counterintuitive opposite of what you think is going to happen.
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And so, do not judge God's work by the moment that you are in.
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Because it's very easy to go, I can see what's happening next.
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And then you're in the pit, and you go, I'm going to die here.
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God is going to rescue out of you out of that pit and bring you into a greater place.
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what looks like loss may be actually the greatest victory of your entire life
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and so for the christian even death itself like the cross
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is this great tragedy if we look at it through carnal eyes but what is it really it's the
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doorway into eternal life and glory god takes everything that is terrible and he works it
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for good, for his purposes, and for the good of his people. Amen? Amen. Let's pray. Father,
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we thank you, Lord, for this word, for the scriptures, for the example of Christ that
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is working and causing every element of this narrative to be for the glory of the kingdom of
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God. Lord, we ask that you would help us to understand the scriptures and the text even more,
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that we might grow in maturity that we might see the glory and beauty of the gospel