“Palm Sunday”
By Pastor Bob Rasmussen
Let us pray:
Great and Mighty Father, Holy Prince of Peace, author and finisher of our faith. We come to you this morning with grateful hearts, full of adoration. As we remember you this Sunday, we are awed by everything you have done. We are awed by the selfless and intentional sacrifice You made for us so that we could have a relationship again with you. We know what you did, but we can only imagine how painful it was – we thank You, everlasting God, for giving your life for our sins. Your grace and mercy overwhelm us. We love you, Lord Jesus, amen.
Today is what many people call Palm Sunday. It is the month of Nissan on the Jewish calendar. There is a celebration in Jerusalem for Passover. The city is bustling with people. There are vendors selling all kinds of things, and the city is full and getting ready to celebrate Passover.
Passover is the biggest festival for the Jews. It is a time when they remember their deliverance from 400 years of slavery from the Egyptians. The last plague that the Lord sent was about to come and this is what the bible says:
Exodus 12:21 Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover. 22 And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning. 23 For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.
The death angel comes, kills all of the firstborn, and the Jews are freed. A lot more happens after that, but that is the essence of Passover. This is a very important time for the Jewish people.
When we were at Bible study, Sister Carmen asked a very good question. Why did Jesus keep telling people not to tell anyone about whatever miracle it was, even though they did?
I think there are a couple of very strong reasons for that. One of them is that although Jesus did heal many miraculously, that wasn’t the main part of His mission. His ministry was about the healing miracle of salvation. After Jesus healed a man who had leprosy, this is what he said.
Mark 1:43 Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: 44 “See that you don’t tell this to anyone.
I certainly cannot blame the guy. He had been cured of the incurable. A life spent in loneliness and debilitating deformity.
But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” 45 Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.
So Jesus took His ministry where He could continue to teach and heal, with the primary focus of Salvation. We also know that the religious elite were not huge fans of Jesus, and Jesus knew what He had to do and how to do it. He directed the time when He would make a huge and very public entrance and engage with them.
Matthew 21:1 And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, 2 Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. 3 And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.
Anytime there is something that only happens once in the bible, I get my ears up and pay attention. This is the first time in the Word of God that Jesus is riding any animal. Is it because Jesus is tired and wants to roll into Jerusalem on a donkey? No, I don’t think so.
This is Jesus setting up a public display of His arrival in Jerusalem. Very contradictory to what we saw in Mark. No, this is a very, very intentional move by Jesus.
4 All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, 5 Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.
This is one of the over 300 prophecies Jesus fulfilled. I had to look that one up; I have not had the time to verify the number of prophecies. Some say more, some say less. Can we all agree that it was a lot?
This is so powerful to me. The prophecy is from the Word in Zechariah, a prophet who lived between 520 and 470 BC—about 500 years or so before Jesus entered Jerusalem.
Zechariah 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
We see Jesus fulfill this prophecy, and it shows me that He fulfills His Word on time. Every time. Even if it takes 500 years. I can take that and know that every single promise for my life, every Word that has been spoken in my life will go from declaration to manifestation. His Word, all of it – will be fulfilled! He will watch over His Word to ensure everything He spoke over you and me will come to pass.
He tells me my name is written in the book of Life. I don’t have to fear death because I have confidence in what God has said to me. When we have received a word from a credible source, like I mentioned before, Jean Allen, you can have confidence that the Lord will watch over that word to perform it. It doesn’t matter how much time has elapsed!
I can have confidence in my heart that God will watch over his word, amen! This account of getting a donkey for Jesus to ride into Jerusalem is also in the Book of John, Chapter 12, and it says that the disciples did not understand.
6 And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, 7 And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon.
But they did it anyway. What a powerful image of the power of obedience and submission to the will of God. If they did not do as Jesus instructed. I am sure He could have snapped His fingers and had another donkey right there.
If they did not do as Jesus instructed it would have messed the whole thing up! But this shows the power of obedience to God. We never know the impact of one simple act of obedience.
We can get these instructions by reading His Word, through the Holy Spirit. Pastor Jeff, move to Janesville. Mike and Jeff, start a church. Diana, marry that guy Bob! You never know what is on the other side of obedience, and you never know what might have been – if only you said yes to God, amen? It is a good reminder that God has a purpose for all of us, if only we will yield to the Holy Spirit.
8 And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. 9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. 10 And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? 11 And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.
Why is the crowd cheering? They believed that their king was there. They had heard about the miracles. They heard testimony that Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead. He can do anything!
But King of what? The Jews were under the brutal and physical oppression of the Roman Empire. Many think that He is there to free them from that. He will be King, and the Kingdom of Israel will rise again and be victorious with Jesus.
What they didn’t know was He was there on a mission for a kingdom, but it was the Kingdom of Heaven. They were hoping to be freed once again, like they were from Egypt.
The palm branches spoke to royalty and victory. Palm branches had been used for generations to celebrate victory. In the ancient Olympic Games, palm branches, olive wreaths, and ribbons were used to signify victory. They are there rooting and cheering that Jesus was their earthly champion, the Victor that was going to bring them out of captivity. They were not there being religious or looking for a spiritual breakthrough; they were looking for that deliverance, like they were delivered out of Egypt. That is what they were excited about!
Now, Jesus was Jesus, and He knew what His purpose was. He knew the end game. He was not swayed by anyone’s opinion or desire to change His destiny, even though nobody else understood Him.
He knew He was the Lamb of God and He was there to take away the sins of the whole world, even though the Romans were the biggest problem in their eyes.
Could Jesus have taken down Rome? In an instant. But He was not going to be swayed by the heat of the moment, He was there to take down the Kingdom of darkness.
They wanted Him to go to war, but again, Jesus deliberately created His Word and fulfilled His Word by riding in on a donkey. If he were there for battle, a horse would have been more appropriate in those days. Generals rode horses, so some of the people may have been confused.
Horses are what Kings rode; they rode them into battle and after a victory.
No, Jesus chose a donkey, more symbolic of meekness and peace than a horse, which was more for battle. And that peace that He was riding into Jerusalem was a restored peace between man and God. Man, who had been separated since the fall of Adam.
Remember when Jesus was born and the angels appeared:
Luke 2:10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Jesus was there to make all of that a reality for the whole world, they just didn’t know it. As I said earlier, there were times Jesus said, “Don’t tell anyone about the miracle he did; let’s keep it quiet.” But now, something has changed.
Jesus has waited for this specific moment to change His ministry from the fields and the mountains into the city of Jerusalem.
This triumphant entry into Jerusalem, an entry that set the wheels in motion for His horrific death. He is now stepping into the middle of the crowd, knowing what will happen – His death. This is a significant choice!
John 10:17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. 18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
Choosing this path that leads to His death, He didn’t have to, but Jesus chose to in this triumphant entry. The whole world, in a sense, would now see him and their eyes would be upon Him. It’s like if He had Instagram or Facebook, {phone} he would have grabbed His phone and snapped a selfie and posted “I am that I am”.
And just like now, there would have been haters, and in this case, it is the Pharisees. Oh man, I could just see them mixed in the crowd. They have wanted Jesus gone for a while now. I remembered that they wanted to throw him off a cliff. Jesus had just preached in the synagogue and they are all really upset with Him:
Luke 4:28 And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, 29 And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. 30 But he passing through the midst of them went his way,
I know that many of us will get together with family, and some we have not seen in a while. We might even get to see a grandchild. We may have fancy meals or whatever, but I want us all to remember the significance of Jesus’s choice. He was still a man; He had all the emotions we have.
That choice took courage. Courage that was based on an intense love for you and me and the whole world, generation after generation.
It was His love for you and me, those in Jerusalem, even those who were about to crucify Him.
1 John 4:19 We love Him, because He first loved us.
Amen, amen, amen! No one takes His life. The Pharisees did not take His life. The Romans did not take His life. The enemy did not take his life. He laid it down. What did He say?
I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.
This morning, let us all consider the weight of that choice. He knew he would be betrayed. He knew he would be handed to the Roman soldiers. That He would be mocked. That He would be whipped. That He would carry that cross. That He would be crucified. He laid it down for all of us…
Even knowing all of that, when He got to town, He didn’t go to a prayer closet or go away to prepare. It’s more like He kicked in the door and said Here I am. Let’s go. What is the first thing that He does?
12 And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, 13 And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves. 14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them.
I love that! He did not waste time to make sure people knew, maybe not at that exact moment for everyone, that He was not playing around and for everyone to stop playing church, to get back to what it is supposed to be. A house of prayer. A body that loves each other, a body that helps each other. Not a business, like so many churches in America today.
A place where the Word of God is preached – all of it. Where the body of Christ stands up to popular American culture and will not bend but rather stand on the Word of God. Hallelujah and amen!
There is one final thing that I would like to remind myself and maybe you. I would challenge you to put yourself in that crowd of people. Maybe there is something that you expect Jesus to be your champion for. For me, it is pain. Maybe it is another health issue. Perhaps it is a broken relationship. Maybe you need a job or some financial breakthrough. Perhaps it is business-related, whatever it is – maybe that is your Roman occupation.
Last year, I preached a message called “What a week”, detailing and looking at that last week of Jesus and all the things He did, and it was a week that boggles the mind.
And as I thought about all He was doing and His triumphant entry, I imagined all of those folks chanting “Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna means not only to praise god but also “Save us” or “Save us now”. And that makes sense, Israel wants to be saved from Roman occupation. And in their requests to be saved, Jesus fulfills what they want – but not in the way they want.
Jesus will save them, but not from Roman occupation, rather the occupation the enemy has with sin.
So often, I think we pray, “God save me from this situation or that situation.” “Do this or do that, Lord.” And when God does not do it the way that we want, we too go from Hosanna, Hosanna to almost like that emotional crowd “Crucify Him, crucify Him”.
Come on now. We praise Jesus on Sunday, we pray. Then life hits throughout the week, and I can be like—or maybe somebody you know—WINK. Where are You in this, Lord? You didn’t do as I asked!
I am trying to be honest here. Many times I have been like Lord, I am doing everything you told me to do, but still….I am in pain. I am not healed. My son or daughter is lost, physically or spiritually. My business is failing. I am trying everything! My marriage is failing, I prayed.
Lord, where are you moving in this moment? In this battle?
You can do anything, Lord! Why not do this? When Jesus said yes and chose to ride into Jerusalem on that Donkey, He chose to expose His truth and then His love by being brutally crucified for our sins.
He saw past that moment and chose freedom for the captives of sin and eternal life with Him. Praise the Lord.
I also see that even though we pray for one thing, we do not see what we want. We can trust and know that He may be doing things differently. I am reminded that he’s never stopped saving us, and he’s never stopped working for our good. Sometimes he is working on things that, even though we cannot see them, are bigger, and if we stay faithful, when we get to the other side of whatever it is, we’ll be like – Hosanna! Thank you Lord!
This has happened many times where I have prayed, and when I look back, I see the wisdom and the love of God. I love Him and trust Him with my life. And I believe with my whole heart that He does watch over His Word – every Word – and that He will never fail.
So this morning I chose to say “Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna!”
It reminds me of the song Choose Life:
A choice is set before you now
living or dying, blessing or cursing
You know, the time has come around
to turn from your fighting
and rest in his mercy
chorus
Choose life, that you might live
the life that He gives
He gives you forever
Choose life, the way that it’s true
from the one who chose you
your father in Heaven
Choose life
But let us also remember how Jesus will return:
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. – Revelation 19:11-14
Janesville Apostolic Ministries 
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