Good Palm Sunday weekend to you my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
In every country of the world where the story of Jesus has been heard, there will be some acknowledgment, some celebration, this weekend as we remember what the Bible reports happened nearly 2000 years ago with Jesus and His friends. Come, let’s rejoin them, as those who were eyewitnesses of this weekend tell us what happened.
For several days Jesus, His disciples, and some other friends of Jesus had been walking from the village of Ephraim, on the other side of the Jordan river, through Jericho on their journey to Jerusalem for the annual Passover festival. The closer to Jerusalem, the more the roads would have been crowded with other travelers, for every Jewish family, if at all possible, sent representatives of their family to Jerusalem for this great week-long festival.
Those who lived in towns within one days walk of Jerusalem, opened their homes, the roofs on their homes, their courtyards and even their animal stables to accommodate as many of their fellow Jews as possible, for this was a nationwide family reunion!
But THIS Passover was different, a much greater sense of expectation was in the air. Jesus was famous by now and people were coming to THIS Passover assuming Jesus would be here, and His popularity was so widespread there had been an undercurrent of talk that maybe Jesus was their long-awaited Messiah!
If so, Jesus might be the one who many Jews hoped would lead an uprising against Rome that would achieve both freedom and a return to the glory days of Israel during the reigns of Kings David and Solomon. All eyes were watching, all ears listening for any indication the long awaited deliverer, Messiah, was among them.
All four Gospel writers give us their perspective of this unforgettable weekend. Let’s combine all the reports and experience the events, right along with the disciples of Jesus. According to John, they had spent the night in Bethany, at the familiar home of their friends, Mary, Martha, and their brother Lazarus, who also was quite famous now as the man Jesus had raised from being dead 5 days! (John 11)
Bethany was only a short walk over the hills of Olivet from Jerusalem, perhaps two or three miles. As daylight came that day, everyone in the house assumed they’d be walking to Jerusalem, Passover week was beginning.
Excitement was high. Jerusalem would be packed with people, all in a very good mood and the evidence of celebration would be everywhere. While the atmosphere would be similar to a city hosting the world cup soccer tournament or the super bowl or the baseball world series or maybe even the Olympic games, this would be a deeply spiritual crowd.
There would be no crime, no drunkenness, no disorderly conduct, nothing that would dishonor God, for the Passover gathering was a great celebration of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who led 1 million Hebrew slaves out of hundreds of years of Egyptian slavery without a shot being fired! Thousands of people, hundreds of thousands of people, gathered for this week long worship celebration in and around Jerusalem! As they walk along with Jesus, just look at the crowds, everywhere, and the sense of joyful celebration is palpable. Can you see it my friends?
As they left Bethany that morning many walked along with them, for everyone was going to Jerusalem! Jesus sent two of His disciples ahead, telling them that in the next village they’d find a donkey colt tied and they should untie it and bring it to Jesus! Those disciples did as Jesus told them and found it just as Jesus had predicted.
Luke writes: “As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, ‘why are you untying that colt’? They replied, “the Lord needs it.’ They brought the colt to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it.” (Luke 19:28-35) It’s not difficult for us to imagine that scene, is it my friends? But may I ask, why do you suppose the owner of the colt apparently didn’t argue, or demand a deposit, before allowing his colt to be taken? It’s another evidence that Jesus was becoming so famous that this colt owner would have considered it a great honor for Jesus to use his colt, even if previous arrangements had not been made.
Luke tells us Jesus had described the colt this way: “as you enter the village you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here.” Have you ever spent much time around donkeys or horses? A colt no one has ever ridden would be uncontrollable as soon as someone attempts to put a bridle in its mouth or a rope around its neck or especially get on its back. It won’t even allow someone to lead it without straining at the rope or kicking wildly and trying to get free!
But not only did Jesus predict exactly what those two disciples would find, and not only did the colt owner agree to have his colt used by Jesus, but there’s no evidence this colt was anything but peaceful and docile! Do you see the various evidences of the miraculous power of Jesus in this?
As the two disciples came with the donkey colt in tow, they met Jesus and the little parade with Him. Matthew tells us people took off their outer cloaks and put them on the donkey, while others spread their cloaks on the ground forming a type of red carpet as is done in many countries for guests of honor or dignitaries. “A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from trees and spread them on the road. The crowds began chanting “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” (Matt 21:8,9)
Jews, particularly the men in those days, understood the Old Testament well, for as little boys they all studied everyday with their local Rabbi. While this was perhaps spontaneous, for many people it was like a pent-up reservoir of emotion, and hope exploded across the Olivet hillside. They’d seen the miracles this Jesus had done; they’d heard His remarkable messages of hope all rooted in the God of Israel. The cloaks, the branches all signified the honor worthy of a victorious, delivering king.
The shouted words had powerful meaning because they were rooted deeply in the cherished Old Testament prophet Zechariah’s word which he recorded in his 9th chapter, at a very specific, important time in Israel’s history, especially as these people could look from the Mount of Olives across the Kidron valley to the great Temple of God.
You see, the old prophet Zechariah had brought his powerful message from God to the Jewish captives returning from Babylonian slavery starting in 538bc! These Hebrew captives or their parents had been shackled and dragged away from Jerusalem by King Nebuchadnezzar more than 50 years before in the terrible 586bc destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple.
Babylon had then been conquered by the Persian empire and their king Cyrus had issued a shocking decree that all Hebrew captives were free to return to the ruins of Jerusalem and rebuild their city, and their Temple of God! Thousands did return, and began rebuilding their homes, their lives and their city, but they let the Temple ruins lie dormant for the most part! Zechariah and Haggai were two courageous prophets, raised up by God who challenged these returned captives to get to work and rebuild God’s temple! And bolstered by these prophets they did!
Now 500 years later, as Jesus rode on that untamed donkey colt, over the ridge of the Mount of Olives, surrounded by the clamoring crowd, the great rebuilt city of Jerusalem came into view and towering above those city walls, the great Temple of the Hebrew God! Yes, the temple which those Hebrew slaves and their prophet Zechariah had rebuilt! Oh, it had been refurbished and in recent years the huge temple mount expanded by Herod the Great, but I think Jesus paused and just looked in amazement, as all the people crowded around Him waved their branches, their arms, their cloaks in unrestrained praise to God. “Hosanna” means ‘save us O God’!
These cherished words of Zechariah were coming to life right here, right now: ““Rejoice greatly, Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt… He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth…” (Zechariah 9:9,11)
Oh, my friends, all across the Olivet hillside, among these thousands of people, a great celebration awakened! God had seen their miserable suffering at the hands of the Romans! God had heard their cries for His help!
God had sent Jesus and His powerful miracles were undeniable. Look right there, not far from the donkey colt with Jesus sitting on it, that’s Lazarus, isn’t it? Isn’t he the one Jesus actually raised from the dead only a few weeks ago? If Jesus can do that Jesus can do anything, no power on earth is strong enough to subdue this victorious king. ‘Hosanna, our day of deliverance must certainly be near,’ the people shouted.
We can’t blame them for their hysteria of hope, can we? So, let’s spend this weekend right here, in the middle of this great celebration of God. Let’s join with them, let’s dance and clap and shout, Jesus is here in all His power, and He deserves our celebration, and I’ll come right back here on Monday to see what happened next in this memorable weekend. And here’s a song to help us celebrate sung by some of our African friends…
Today’s Scriptures is Luke 19 and Matthew 21.
Choose below to read or listen.
Luke 19
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Matthew 21
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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