28 When He had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 When He drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, He sent two of the disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’” 32 So those who were sent went away and found it just as He had told them. 33 And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” 35 And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 And as He rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. 37 As He was drawing near - already on the way down the Mount of Olives - the whole multitude of His disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, 38 saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”
41 And when He drew near and saw the city, He wept over it, 42 saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side 44 and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.’”
Palm Sunday has been recognised and celebrated as the first day of Holy Week or Passion Week for centuries, because of the palm branches and cloaks that the people spread out before Jesus as He entered Jerusalem.
The Gospel writers tell us a crowd gathered, filled with excitement, and lined the road in front of Jesus as He slowly rode into the city. It would seem that there was a kind of carpet of fresh, green palm branches, picked from nearby trees, and some of their clothing which was also strewn on the road.
According to the Pharisees, this was a problem. It wasn’t the palm branches and cloaks, but rather what the people were saying which was a problem. “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
The Pharisees tried to get Jesus to make the crowd stop. They asked Him to rebuke the people for what they were saying. To them this was blasphemy of the highest order. To call a carpenter’s son and itinerant preacher a Saviour, went against everything they stood for.
‘Blessed is the King’ is not just any phrase. This was the kind of welcome reserved for Israel’s Saviour. It’s a phrase found in the Hebrew Scriptures, going back to Psalm 118, a psalm that rejoices in the Lord’s triumph. It celebrates the salvation, the long-anticipated deliverance that Israel thought might never come. Psalm 118:25-26 captures the hope: “Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”
The psalmist was inspired by God to sing the praises of the Messiah who would free God’s people from the penalty of their sin, but the people in Jesus’ day had misunderstood the task of the promised Messiah to be the one who would free them from Roman rule, and so as Jesus rode into Jerusalem, they quoted directly from Psalm 118:26. “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.”
The crowd had been whipped up into a frenzy, and taking their cues from Psalm 118, they were declaring Jesus to be the Messiah. That’s why the Pharisees told Jesus to stop. “Do you hear what they are saying? They think you’re the Messiah come to save us. Tell them to be quiet.”
Jesus didn’t stop them though. He said that if the people weren’t saying it, then the rocks themselves would cry out. Of course, Jesus is the Messiah. He came to Jerusalem to save His people. And according to the crowd, this was exactly what they wanted. The Pharisees though, saw it completely differently, but they were both wrong. It wasn’t the salvation part that was the problem so much as the way Jesus would bring salvation. The people wanted salvation and success. They wanted the Messiah to march into the city and sort out the cruel, oppressive Romans who were occupying their land.
They wanted to be free from Gentile oppression, even by force if necessary. They wanted another exodus - one that expelled the Romans.
Instead, what they had just five days later was a bloodied, barely recognisable man, beaten within an inch of His life, who would die on a Roman cross. The chants of the crowd on Palm Sunday would later be replaced by a new cry. “Blessed is He!” would soon turn to “Crucify Him!”
The fickle nature of that crowd always shames us, because we know that it pierces us to the heart.
We know how the events of the next five or so days were about to unfold, so while we might share in their enthusiasm each Palm Sunday, we can’t help but hear the baying that comes on Friday.
Jesus Christ is Lord. If you’re a Christian, you have joyfully proclaimed that truth, and in a sense, have joined the crowd in Jerusalem on Sunday, giving Jesus the glory which He is due. We hear our praise, but then, by Friday, ashamed, we hear our mocking voice along with the same crowd.
We have praised Him, but we have mocked Him too. It is not the righteous, after all, whom Jesus came to save, but sinners - like us. Human beings are notoriously fickle.
History is filled with examples of people who started out humbly, rose to great popularity, but because they didn’t fulfill the potential that others saw in them, came to the end in utter humiliation.
During Holy Week, we see the same kind of thing. Jesus, the son of a simple carpenter, educated in Nazareth, but who gained tremendous popularity with the crowds. When He rode into Jerusalem that day, Jesus was given a hero’s welcome.
That first Palm Sunday must have been amazing to see. Jesus was cheered and praised, but pretty soon He would be mocked, scorned, and cast aside by the same ones who did the cheering.
On that Palm Sunday as Jesus approached Jerusalem, there were several things that He was aware of. He knew the conditions surrounding the people, and He knew the condition of the people’s hearts.
The Jews found themselves under heavy Roman oppression. There were heavy taxes, restrictions, numerous executions by crucifixion, and Jesus knew all about those things. He knew what they were struggling with, but He also knew their hearts.
The Jews were in search of someone. They wanted a king, a conqueror, someone to set them free, and this son of a carpenter had given them hope. They had seen what Jesus was capable of doing. They’d seen the miracles – all the healings and raising people from the dead. They’d heard His wisdom as He taught with authority.
Surely, with power and authority like that, Jesus was without doubt the one who would set them free. So, Jesus came to Jerusalem, and the crowds began to cheer.
The timing was perfect. It was no coincidence that this all happened just before the Passover feast. That was symbolic of the event where the angel of death passed over Egypt, when Pharaoh finally let God’s children go. It was easy to make the connection with what God had done in Egypt, and what they were convinced Jesus was about to do now.
At last, Jesus would lead them from the restraints and cruel treatment they received from the Roman government, so they had every right to be excited.
As Jesus rode into Jerusalem, the crowds waved palm branches, a long-standing symbol of Jewish nationalism. They shouted, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord.” Cheering, praising and exalting.
But then something happened. The cheering stopped.
There was no call to arms. Jesus didn’t gather any troops. He didn’t lead a revolution. He didn’t do what they expected. Instead, He drove the moneychangers out of the temple – and they were Jews, not Romans. He paid tribute to Caesar. He taught that giving is better than receiving. He taught that in order to be great, you must be a servant. Jesus did everything the people didn’t want, and so the cheering stopped.
It’s amazing that when things go our way, when God does what we want, when Jesus rises to our cause, it’s easy to cheer and praise Him. But what about when He doesn’t do these things? What happens when we face oppression? What happens when we experience hardships?
Too often, the cheering comes to a stop. Words of adoration and praise quickly fade when we face life as it really is.
Sometimes God does give us what we want, but more often than not He gives us what we need. It’s just that we prefer things the other way around. Often our wants and desires blur our vision to our real needs. The same thing happened to the crowds that lined the streets to cheer Jesus. There were some things that they didn’t see, but Jesus did.
Look again at verses 41-44.
“When He drew near and saw the city, He wept over it, saying, ‘Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.’”
So the question is, why did the cheering stop?
Firstly, it was because they did not recognise Jesus’ purpose. At the end of verse 44 Jesus says that they didn’t recognise the purpose of what He was about to do.
They wanted relief and salvation from oppression. The only thing they were concerned about was getting rid of their Roman oppressors. They had no idea that their biggest need was to be delivered from the bondage of sin. Part of the problem was that the Jews were God’s chosen people, but they understood this to mean that they couldn’t do any wrong in God’s eyes. Human sin was something irrelevant to them.
If you go back a few verses, the crowd was shouting, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord.”
What this means is that they knew who Jesus was.
What we need to remember is that the Jewish nation grew up hearing about and learning about God. They were a religious people. God was not a stranger to them. They grew up hearing the stories of people like Abraham and Moses – God’s love affair with the Jewish nation was no secret.
These people were looking for the kingdom of God and Jesus had told them that the kingdom was already in their presence. They were aware of His claims to be the Son of God. They were witnesses to His miracle working power. That’s why they were so excited and full of anticipation on that first Palm Sunday.
But, there is a reason that they could not see His purpose. They could not see Jesus’ purpose because they had their eyes on their immediate circumstances instead of their true condition.
We are the same way today. When we go through trials and hardships, and we suffer through various difficulties, and only concentrate on our circumstances, when our focus is on everything around us that is wrong, then something happens. Our prayer starts to change. It shifts from one place to another, and it becomes, “Lord, deliver me, help me, fight for me, uplift me,” instead of, “Lord, mould me, use me, grow me through these things, change me, and take the glory for yourself.”
Too often our wish is for God to change the circumstances, instead of God changing the person in those circumstances. And sadly, it has an effect. In time the cheering stops, because when God doesn’t do what we want, we think He’s deserted us, or hasn’t heard our prayers. Just because He says no to a prayer request doesn’t mean that He hasn’t answered our prayer.
We lose sight of Him and His purpose, and we diminish in our worship of Him. We go through the motions of service, and praise Him for what we want Him to do, instead of praising Him for who He is.
The people in Israel wanted deliverance from oppression. Jesus came to deliver them from the bigger problem of sin. In their desire to escape their immediate circumstances and to have their idea of peace, they missed the fact that they walked in the very presence of the Prince of Peace. Don’t let that be what causes your cheering for Him to stop. Don’t lose sight of the fact that through any circumstance, you are in the presence of the Prince of Peace.
Don’t forget the promise Jesus made in John 16:33 which we looked at last Sunday: “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
It’s hard to get peace from the world when it is clear that it is full of tribulation. But with Jesus, you can have peace, even in the middle of those times.
Another mistake the Jews made on Palm Sunday was that not only did they refuse to recognise Jesus’ purpose, but also they refused to accept His terms.
Verse 42: “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.”
What Jesus is talking about here is human stubbornness. He has clearly spelled out His terms for us, and they’re not easy.
Take up your cross and follow me – it is all about submission to God and His will for us. We like to call Jesus our Saviour, but we struggle to call Him Lord as well.
The people in Jerusalem wanted peace, but they wanted it on their terms. They wanted peace through conflict.
Jesus wanted to bring them peace. In Luke 13:34 He said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”
They were not willing. They were not willing to accept the peace Jesus was offering, because they wanted God on their terms.
How often do we as Christians do the same thing? We want peace, and we want blessings, but we’re not willing to do it His way. We want to do things our way in order to get them.
In essence, the attitude is, “God, I want peace and blessings, and I’m going to do this, and that, and the other, because that’s how I want to handle it. And Lord, your job it to just bless me in my actions.”
How about those of you who have not accepted Christ as your Saviour, and have yet to turn to Him in repentance? There are many who want to set the terms themselves. “I’m going to get to Heaven one day, but I’ll get there on my own terms.” You might not say it that way, but the way you live your life reflects that attitude.
Jesus could not make it any clearer when He said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
But, time and time again you have refused His terms.
Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.”
Why? It is because you refuse to accept His terms. Jesus is the only way. The only provision for salvation has already been made.
The blood that was shed on the cross of Calvary is the only way we can be forgiven for our sin, and it is the righteousness of Christ that must be applied to us if we want to be in Heaven for eternity. There is no other way, except through Jesus Christ. Following other man-made philosophies and religions, trying to be a good person, even trying to obey the Ten Commandments are all doomed to fail if you don’t have the righteousness of Christ imputed to you by faith in Him. It’s all emptiness without Jesus. “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.”
They did not recognise His purpose.
They refused to accept His terms, and thirdly, they did not realise that it would bring judgment.
Verses 43 and 44 contain this warning: “The days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.’” This is exactly what happened some 40 years later.
Here Jesus is describing the future judgment of Jerusalem. They had been warned, they knew the terms, they knew who Jesus was, but they refused to accept these things, and so it brought judgment.
During the Passover festivities in 70AD, the Roman army, under the command of Titus, allowed the Jews to enter Jerusalem, but then wouldn’t let them out. The city was under siege, and very quickly ran out of food and water. In desperation, and driven by thirst and hunger, they revolted. And the Roman army destroyed them. Over one million Jews were killed when they rebelled. The Jewish historian Josephus recorded that the blood flowed down the steps leading up to the temple, just like water. And the temple was destroyed.
Things happened just as Jesus said they would. It was because they would not recognise His purpose, they refused to accept His terms, so they were judged. They wanted it done their way, and so the cheering stopped, and judgment came.
How does all of this apply to us? Simply put, we cannot – in fact, we dare not approach God on our own terms. We come to Him through Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ alone. The only other option is judgment and eternal banishment from God.
As Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3:3 - “I tell you the truth, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
When we come to Him we come on His terms, and we accept His claims.
Jesus is the Son of God, He is the only the sacrifice for sin, He is the only Lord and the only Saviour.
“But what about all those wonderful, devout people who follow other religions?” is the popular cry. Jesus has already answered that question. “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.”
The 17th century Puritan preacher Thomas Brooks wrote, “Till men have faith in Christ, their best services are but glorious sins.” Every good work, no matter how wonderful and how noble it seems to us, is empty without Christ.
God is sovereign. He sets the terms and conditions of salvation. If we refuse to accept them, there is no salvation. It’s that simple.
Are you part of the crowd that cheers Jesus when all is going well in your life, but when He doesn’t do what you want, the cheering stops?
The Christian life of faith is a life spent walking in God’s will, both when it is easy, and when it is hard.
Maybe your problem has been that your desires have been self-centred instead of God-centred. You might be saved, but just like Jacob you insist on wrestling with God, because you have never really accepted His terms of service to Him, and you have been doing things on your own, and in your own strength.
God will not share His glory with us. He will not be dictated to by us like He is some kind of blessing machine that owes us a favour.
It’s wonderful to call Jesus our Saviour – but we also have to call Him Lord.