Palm Sunday
Pastor Bill Nichols - March 28, 2010Introduction
One of the events of Jesus life that is found in all four of the Gospels we celebrate today, Palm Sunday. Found in Matthew 21, Mark 11, Luke 19 and John 12. Each account of this important day reads a little different from the others, although Matthew and Mark are the most similar. This is understandable when you consider that they were each written by a different follower of Jesus, at different times, to different audiences and for different purposes. And yet, the main theme of each of these accounts is the same, the presentation of Jesus to Israel and Jerusalem as the promised Messiah of the Old Testament.
This day gets its name from the account recorded in the Gospel of John. John 12: 13 states: "They took palm branches and went out to meet him."
Why palm branches? Why Palm Sunday? Let me give you a little background on the use of the palm branch in history.
I. The Palm Branch
Wikipedia is often a good source of information on topics like this. I like it because the information you find there is usually pretty concise. They list three reasons that the Jews fast today.
Information found at: The Palm Tree
The palm is a tree which from the earliest times has been associated with the Semitic peoples. In Arabia the very existence of man depends largely upon its presence.
It is only natural that such a tree should have been sacred both there and in Assyria in the earliest ages.
In Israel the palm leaf appears as an ornament upon pottery as far back as 1800 BC and among the Hebrews it was extensively used as a decoration of the temple (1 Kings 6:29,32,35; 7:36; 2 Chronicles 3:5). It is a symbol of beauty (Song of Solomon 7:7) and of the righteous man: "The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree"
(Psalms 92:12-14). The palm tree or branch is used extensively on Jewish coinage.
In Judaism, the date palm represents peace and plenty, and is one of the Four Species (Lulav) used in the daily prayers on the feast of Sukkot. It is bound together with the hadass (myrtle), and aravah (willow) The palm may also symbolize the Tree of Life in Kabbalah.
Although palms once flourished upon the Mount of Olives, today the only palms left are scarce and small. Branches of palms have been symbolically associated with several different ideas. A palm branch is used in Isaiah 9:14; 19:15 to signify the "head," the highest of the people, as contrasted with the rush, the "tail," or humblest of the people. Palm branches appear from early times to have been associated with rejoicing. On the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles the Hebrews were commanded to take branches of palms, with other trees, and rejoice before God (Leviticus 23:40; compare Nehemiah 8:15; 2 Maccabees 10:7). The palm branch still forms the chief feature of the lulabh carried daily by every pious Jew to the synagogue, during the feast.
Later it was connected with the idea of triumph and victory. Simon Maccabeus entered the Akra at Jerusalem after its capture,
"with thanksgiving, and branches of palm trees, and with harps, and cymbals, and with viols, and hymns, and songs: because there was destroyed a great enemy out of Israel"(1 Maccabees 13:51 compare 2 Maccabees 10:7). The same idea comes out in the use of palm branches by the multitudes who escorted Jesus to Jerusalem (John 12:13).
Later, in Christian art, martyrs were usually shown holding a palm frond, representing the victory of spirit over flesh, and it was widely believed that a picture of a palm on a tomb meant that a martyr was buried there.
When you take into consideration all of these thoughts, you get a picture of a crowd who were welcoming Jesus into Jerusalem as someone who was of highest stature and deserving of honor, that this welcome would be associated with rejoicing, that they considered Jesus as someone who would bring triumph and victory, peace and plenty. They associated all of these things with the promised Messiah of the Old Testament. The palm branches they waved were a symbol of their acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah!
II. The Donkey
Information taken from Palm Sunday
In addition to the palm branches, there is another symbol in this passage that is associated with Messiah. That symbol is the donkey.
Matthew 21:1-5 (NIV)
"As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away." This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: "Say to the Daughter of Zion, 'See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.'"
Why should the Messiah come on a donkey? The answer lies in the symbolism of the donkey, which in some Eastern traditions seems to be seen as an animal of peace, versus the horse, which is the animal of war. Therefore, it was said that a king came riding upon a horse when he was bent on war and rode upon a donkey when he wanted to point out that he was coming in peace. Thus, the king riding on a colt, the foal of a donkey complies with the epithet gentle or lowly and strongly implies the message of peace. This message of peace was always fundamental with Jesus, but it is not clear how well understood was it in those days. In fact, John declares: These things understood not His disciples at the first (12:16). It is highly probable that the public enthusiasm of the day saw the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem more like a declaration of war against Israel's enemies than a message of peace.
In the book Sanhedrin from the Babylonian Gemara it is written that the Messiah will appear as a poor man on a donkey only if the Jews are not found deserving of the salvation. Otherwise, the Messiah will ride on a horse.
Whether war or peace, the symbol of the donkey implied royalty. Jesus was offering Himself as king to the Jews. He brought an offer of peace through repentance of sin and turning to God. This offer they later rejected with shouts of crucify, crucify.
III. Hosanna
The following information is from: Hosanna
Finally we come to the word Hosanna. Hosanna is an expression that means save! In Judaism the word is Hoshana.
"Hoshana" is a Hebrew word meaning please save or save now. In Jewish liturgy, the word is applied specifically to the Hoshana Service, a cycle of prayers from which a selection is sung each morning during Sukkot, the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles. The complete cycle, called the great Hallel, (found in Psalms 113 to 118) is sung on the seventh day of the festival, and is accompanied with the waving of palm and willow branches. (Vine's Dictionary)
In Christianity the Greek word "Hosanna" is the cry of praise or adoration shouted in recognition of the Messiahship of Jesus on his entry into Jerusalem, "Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!" It is used in the same way in Christian praise. Overall, it seems that "Hosanna" is a cry for salvation; while at the same time it is a declaration of praise.
There are four key phrases found in the different Gospel accounts of Palm Sunday, that identify Jesus as the Messiah, Son of David, King of Israel.
- Hosanna to the "Son of David" Matthew 21:9
- Hosanna! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Mark 11:10
- Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Luke 19:38
- Hosanna! Blessed is the King of Israel! John 12:13
There can be no doubt who the people thought that Jesus was on the day that Jesus entered Jerusalem, riding a donkey, people waving palm branches and shouting Hosanna, blessed is the King of Israel.
Conclusion
Why then, in just a few short days, did the people reject Him as their king, and nail Him to a cross? One simple answer is this. Jesus did not fit the expectations they had for their king. They wanted a military and political leader who would save Israel from her bondage under Rome and restore her to her former glory.
But Jesus came offering salvation of a different kind. He offered to set the people free from their bonds of sin and to give them eternal life. That is not what they expected and it is not what they wanted.
But that is exactly what Jesus expected. While Jesus was in route to Jerusalem, he took His twelve disciples aside and said to them,
Matthew 20:18-19 (NIV)
"We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!"
You see, Jesus knew what awaited Him in Jerusalem. Even before God created the world and mankind, He made a plan to reconcile sinful man back to Himself through Jesus. (Ephesians 1) Before Jesus left His glory in heaven to become a man, He knew that He would be obedient to death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 1)
Jesus came to this earth to seek and save the lost, and He accomplished that by dying on the cross, being buried, and being raised on the third day. And He offers eternal life to everyone who calls on His name for salvation. Will you accept Him today as Lord of your life?