“The crowds going ahead of him and those following him, shouted “Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest”Matt:21:9
Palm
Sunday or as is it is often called “Palm-Passion Sunday” is the last Sunday of
the Lenten Season. The name “Palm-Passion” marries the entrance of Jesus into
the Hoy city and at the adulation of the assembled multitude and then later
that very week that same crowds demand to have Jesus crucified. This observance unites the Season of Lent and
Holy Week leading up to the Crucifix event celebrated on Good Friday and the
Resurrection event celebrated on Easter Sunday.
When Jesus made his entrance in to the Holy city of
Jerusalem, sometimes called the “Triumphant Entry”. A rather large crowd had gathered in jubilant
expectation at Jesus’ coming, the crowd was so large that St. John recorded
that the Pharisees resentfully remarked that “the world is gone after him”.
On
the Road to Jerusalem
The Passover Pilgrims which had come to Jerusalem for
the Spring Holy Day season had heard that Jesus was on the way and would make
an appearance. Word had been spreading about Jesus for years now, his power and
his words, and of recent Jesus was said to have raised a man, Lazarus of Bethany,
from the dead. It was their hope that
the King of Israel, the Messiah was now come.
The throng lined the roadway which lead from the
village of Bethphage on the Mount of Olives near the Holy City waiting in
expectation for Jesus’ coming.
“When they
approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives” Matt: 21:1a
Jesus had sent
two disciples to find a donkey and a colt which they brought to their Master.
After mounting the donkey, an action which had great significance in the
culture of the day, for in Israel, the Kings rode donkey not horses an action
which the assembled crowed would have understood.
“go into the
village opposite you, and immediately find a donkey tied there and a colt with
her, untie them and bring them to me”(2a)
By doing this Jesus fulfills the prophetic word given
through the Prophet Zechariah
“Behold your King
comes to you, gentle and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a
beast of burden” (5)
Jesus sets off upon the road to Jerusalem riding upon
the donkey. The jubilant multitude spread their garments and palm branches on
the road before him as Jesus came. Waving their arms holding palm branches in
the air crying out in joy, giving their adulation and adoration to Jesus at his
coming.
“Most of the
crowd spread their garments in the road .others were cutting branches from the
trees and spreading them in the road” (8)
Hosanna
As Jesus proceeded to the gate of the city, the cry of
“Hosanna!” which literally means “save us now” or “save now” is lifted up into the air by the collective voice of
those assembled as they walk before him.
“The
crowds going ahead of him and those following him, shouted “Hosanna to the Son
of David; Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest” (9)
They now believe that their time has come, in the
person of Jesus, it was their expectation that the prophecies in the scared
writing were about to be fulfilled and they, individually and collectively,
would share in them. All of this they would gladly receive from Jesus. They
believed that from this moment forward they would receive only blessings from
their King.
The
Palm
They were glad to receive Jesus as their King and
sought so much from him. The people were there along the way waving the Palm
branches giving him praise and adulation at what they had hoped to receive from
Jesus, “Hosanna!” “Save us now”!
The people there were not looking to truly give praise
to Jesus for who he is, but rather, for what he would and could do for them.
They were glad to receive a King who served their needs and wants, they were
moved by the spectacle of his entrance, the power that many of them had witnessed
firsthand, they were moved by the great crowd, and the singing; they held the
Palms in their hands and waved them about; the kingdom was now. They shouted for joy the prophesied Messiah
had come! The blessings were now their’s.
The
Passion
What the crowds gave to Jesus that day, was what we
might call “Conditional Adulation”,
this means, as long as Jesus gave them what they wanted, they would in-turn
give him praise. This “Conditional
Adulation” however would be very short lived. When Jesus came into the Holy City he did almost
nothing that the people had hoped he would. Jesus did not ascend the throne in
the manner in which they had hoped. He did not expel the Roman oppressors from
their land. Jesus did not redistribute wealth and land or hand out titles to
them. Jesus did the opposite in many respects.
The people, then found themselves with profound disappointment
in and with their Messiah. Jesus had not lived up to their expectations. Jesus
had not given them what they wanted. Roman stilled ruled over them, in their minds
nothing had changed.
Many from the joyous crowd who, had walked along with
Jesus waving the Palms and singing and shouting upon his coming into their
lives that day, were found among the mob who were persuaded by the religious establishment
to turn on Jesus later that very same week and shouted for his crucifixion after
Jesus’ arrest and hearing before the Roman Governor Pilate. Even when presented
a choice between Jesus and the criminal Barabbas they chose the criminal.Matt:27:16-21
The mob cried out to Pilate “Crucify him” “Crucify him”
(22 & 23)
St. Matthew tells us that this was not a small group
who heeded the words of the religious establishment but many. “and all the people said” (25a). This is how they chose to reacted when Jesus
did not live up to their collective wants, they turned on the him and delivered
him to his Passion.
When Jesus came to the Holy City that Sunday morning centuries
ago, his entrance exposed in the Jewish people a deep seated problem. They
wanted only to have a Messiah who catered to their whims and desires, they
wanted to wave the Palm and when Jesus would not accommodate them they delivered
him over his to the Passion of the cross.
The
Crowd and Mob
Jesus knew that was the case far in advance of his
coming. Jesus understood and still understands the fickle nature of the human
hear, so conditional is our adulation.
When Jesus comes into our lives, we often receive him
with great adulation, we cry out in praise and worship, we wave the Palm and shout
“Hosanna!”. We seek the greatest
blessings which his Kingdom can bestow upon us, yet when the anticipated
blessing are not disposed to us we find our natural inclination can be like the
crowd of Jerusalem who praised Jesus Sunday yet cursed him Friday.
One moment we are in the crowd then we are in the mob!
This is true because the crowd and mob reside in our hearts and Jesus exposed
it within us.
For as the writer of the Hebrews Epistle wrote: “the word of God is living and active,
sharper than any two edge sword, piercing both joints and marrow, able to judge
the thoughts and intentions of the heart”Heb:4:11
Jesus is that living active word of God who understand the
human heart.
Jesus’ coming into our lives exposes this weakness of
the human heart, which is common among us all. Jesus’ entrance that revealed
this duplicitous nature in us all and demonstrates the need for the Passion
that followed.
A
New Heart
Jesus came however to not just reveal our duplicitous natures,
but through himself he might deliver us from them, setting us free with a new
heart. The Prophet Ezekiel wrote about the work Christ which transforms, not
just Israel, but all who will but freely receive it.
“I
will give them an undivided heart and put my Spirit within them” Ezk: 11:19
This new “undivided
heart” is that we might have a “sound
mind” and be always focused and trusting of our Lord, his Spirit drives the vacillating “crowd
and mob” from us, leaving us to be able to stand and praise our God in the
Person of His Holy Son Jesus.
Palm-Passion Sunday, far from being a day of condemnation
of human heart, it is a joyous celebration
of the saving work of Jesus, through his Passion that we might rejoice and give
praise to his name, that we might with one heart shout “Hosanna! Blessed is he comes in the name of the Lord”.
Benediction: May
we each and all ever give praise and honor and shout “Hosanna” to our Lord
Jesus , with Palm, because of his Passion, today, tomorrow and forevermore.
Amen.
Rev. Todd Crouch, Pastor
The Fountain of life Church a Congregation of Grace Communion 2101 Old National Pike. Washington, Pennsylvania, 15301
The Fountain of Life is heard on the RKP Radio Network 1710 and 1670 AM in Washington and North Franklin ,and 1790 AM in the Arden Fair Grounds area of Washington Pennsylvania, and on 1710 AM in Bentleyville and Monongahela, Pennsylvania. And online around the world at www.rkpradio.com
You can follow the Fountain of Life on Face Book - Click on our Face Book link : https://www.facebook.com/Fountain-of-Life-Church-349595355088375/
No comments:
Post a Comment