The setting is Palm Sunday. We are familiar with the
scripture readings—all four of the Gospels have the account of the triumphant entry into Jerusalem. On Palm Sunday, we often distribute palms, and we sing the
anthems of the day. Many of us can remember doing this every Palm Sunday for as far back as we can remember. This day signifies the beginning of the week of our Lord's passion. And in
approaching Palm Sunday, we must always keep in mind that Jesus knew exactly what lay ahead. He had told the disciples plainly that he would be arrested and crucified. He knew and yet he
continued. So this is an important day, and to find the answer to our question 'who is Jesus' we must understand this day.
So what of the day itself? It was the Sunday before Passover. Jerusalem was full of people. It
was the duty of the faithful Hebrew to try to be in Jerusalem for the Passover and so the City was swollen to many times its normal population. No doubt all of the lodgings and inns were
full—just as they had been on that day thirty-three years earlier, when Jesus was born. People were sleeping in the surrounding villages and coming into Jerusalem by day.
It was busy and active with people everywhere, and all of them were focused on their faith and on the coming Passover. There was even an air of expectancy for many people, because make
no mistake; Jesus was not operating in some kind of a vacuum here! Jesus had been active in the ministry for three years and in making his way towards Jerusalem he had continued the teaching and the miracles.
The cripple had been made to walk; the blind had been made to see; the leper had been healed and countless other miracles had taken place including the raising of a dead man—Lazarus.
Lives had been changed—including the life of a Roman soldier whose daughter had been given life; the life of a certain Samaritan women who then promptly told every one about Jesus; the
life of a notorious tax collector named Zacchaeus and the life of a noted member of the Sanhedrin named Nicodemus. Jesus had touched all manner of people, and we can be sure that
there was great feeling of expectancy for those who were with him on the approach to Jerusalem.
There was excitement and expectation on that dusty day
outside Jerusalem. Jesus and his followers had made their way to Bethphage and to the Mount of Olives. And Jesus had sent two of them to pick up a donkey and her colt, and he had
instructed them to bring the animals back to him. This the disciples dutifully did, and they put their cloaks upon the colt and Jesus sat on the back of the animal. And all was now set for the last short distance into Jerusalem.
Now, people often become confused by what happened next because somehow it does not seem to make sense in our twenty-first century thinking. What on earth was Jesus doing
riding on the colt of a donkey? We need to go back five hundred years earlier than the time of Jesus, to one of the last of the great prophets, in order to understand the symbolism. In our
scripture reading from Zechariah, the prophet said: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout daughter of Jerusalem! See, your King comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt,
the foal of a donkey." Zechariah 9:9
Those words of prophecy were ingrained in the faithful; that the Messiah, the King, would come
in both humility and in majesty. He would come full of righteousness and with salvation, and yet he would come in humility, riding on a donkey. To know who Jesus is, we must understand that
duality - a humble king! How unique in history that is.
And so on that day of excitement and expectancy, Jesus fulfilled that prophecy.
And the crowd went wild! They spread their cloaks on the dusty ground in front of him, and they climbed palm trees and cut down branches and laid them on the ground in front of him. All marks
of respect for a king. And with no inhibitions, they cried out to him. At the top of their voices they called out:
- Hosanna to the Son of David! Hosanna means save, or the one who saves. This was the royal Son of the line of their beloved king David, and this was the one who could save them.
- Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest! The Lord had come and he was blessed and he would save them. And so they shouted and praised.
And I can see them in my minds eye. Up in the trees calling out to him and waving; running along with him and spreading their cloaks and branches; children running along side the colt, laughing
and calling out. All of them were excited and full of joy as they made their way into Jerusalem.
But there was another side to all of this. Other people were watching as the party entered the
city - watching with suspicion and with fear. In our reading from Matthew's gospel Matthew tells us that some stood by watching, and asked 'who is this?' And Matthew goes on to tell us
honestly that the somewhat subdued answer from some of them was; 'this is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth...' The prophet? We wonder what had happened to the calls of King, Hosanna, Lord...?
In his gospel, in 19:39, Luke tells us that the leaders even called out to Jesus to rebuke His disciples—to tell them to be quiet. What a hope of that! Jesus even pressed the point by saying
that why, the very pavement stones would then cry out if the people were quiet.
And in John's gospel, in 12:19, John tells us even more plainly that the Pharisees muttered to
each other saying 'look, this is getting us nowhere. Look the whole world has gone after him.' And we know that from that moment on, they became focused on killing him.
We must see both sides of Palm Sunday! We must see the love and humility of Jesus fulfilling the ancient prophecy, with the excitement of the crowd and their wonderful response to him. But we
must also see the darkness of the determination in others to crucify him—just as he had said would happen.
So that was the day and the events of the day. That was the response of the people involved
all those years ago. But now, what about us? As important as putting Palm Sunday into perspective is, a thousand times more important is how we respond to it all.
I know that it is hard to understand why our Lord had to go through all of the Easter events. And that is why I include the
reading from Isaiah. Sometimes people tell me that they feel a little foolish in not fully understanding. Never feel like that! Even Isaiah the prophet quoted God as saying 'my thoughts are not
your thoughts and neither are my ways your ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.'
At times, God's ways and thoughts are completely above us, but Isaiah concluded with great words of hope; 'you will go out in great joy and be led in peace...' Isaiah 55:8-10, 12
We may not immediately understand, but we can believe and rejoice and we too may go out in peace and joy. So let us turn back to our question and ask what is our response to Palm Sunday?
In a sense, I believe that Jesus confronts each of us with this very basic question—'who am I?' And in our answer, he looks not so much for knowledge and understanding, as for trust and belief.
Sometime before Palm Sunday, Jesus had asked the disciples plainly that very question—'who do you say that I am?' (Matthew 16:15) And dear Peter had taken the lead and had answered 'you
are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'
What is your response?
Will you respond like so many others and say that he is a wonderful teacher, and will you stress
that by saying that you are trying to follow His example?
Or perhaps you will respond like many did on the first Palm Sunday. Getting somewhat involved in
the excitement, singing His praise on the Sunday, but then going back to life as usual on the Monday.
Or do you begin to understand him as the King of Kings who came in utter humility and who gave
His life for you? And will you fall at His feet and say that he is your Lord and Savior, the Christ, the Son of the Living God? For, make no mistake; that is the response he wants.
Who is Jesus?
He is the very Son of God who came among us—fully human and yet full of God's Spirit. He was the only man without sin.
He is the King of Kings—and yet a king not of pride and pomp but of pure loving humility, who
willingly gave his life upon the cross as the ultimate sacrifice for our forgiveness.
He was raised from the dead with the promise that we might find eternal life with no more fears, pain or tears.
If you understand and believe this, you have already crossed over from death into life and you are alive now in fullness and you will live in eternity. Amen.
"Who Is This?"
