Palm Sunday 2022
Song:
O worship the king (1st vs)
Call to worship:
Zech 9.9-13
Historical:
Christ Community Church Article 7
Song:
All Hail the Power of Jesus’ name
Confession & Pardon
Song:
Doxology
Song:
King of Kings
Sermon: “Palm Sunday 2022”
John 12.12-19
Dr. Alex Loginow
Introduction
Last month the city of Detroit hosted the NCAA men’s wrestling tournament at Little Caesar’s Arena. I’m not talking about WWE; I’m talking about legit shoot wrestling. I know several guys who went down to the city to watch the tournament. One guy told me about how intelligent the crown was. Amateur wrestling fans are intelligent fans; they know what’s going on. Sports like football and basketball have rabid fans but there are also a lot of casual fans. There are no casual amateur wrestling fans; they are intelligent.
My friend told me that the crowd reactions at the wrestling tournament were incredible to witness. With every minor move 20,000 people would simultaneously go, “ooh,” or 20,000 people would start clapping at the same time. Amateur wrestling fans are intelligent fans so at matches they know how to appropriately react.
On this Palm Sunday 2022 we look to John’s account of the triumphal entry and we see numerous reactions to Jesus’ royal entrance into Holy Week. There aren’t many accounts from the life of Jesus that are in all four gospels but his triumphal entry is in all four gospels. This is one of the most important events in the life of Christ, and in turn, one of the most important events in redemptive history. And John reveals three different reactions to Christ and his triumphal entry: (1) the reaction of the crowd; (2) the reaction of the Pharisees; and (3) the reaction of the disciples.
And we must begin with one question: what is your reaction to Jesus Christ? Maybe you’ve heard about Jesus your whole life, like I have. Or maybe this morning is the first time you’ve really ever thought about Jesus, Scripture forces us all to contemplate this question: what is your reaction to Jesus Christ?
The Reaction of the Pharisees
Let’s look first at the reaction of the Pharisees. Look again at verse 19: So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him” If you spend even the tersest amount of time in the Gospels you will see that the Pharisees were the chief antagonists to the life and ministry of Christ. The Pharisees hated Jesus because he disrupted the power they held in their legalistic version of Judaism. They hated Jesus and wanted him dead.
At this point in the narrative they are fed up with Jesus and resolve to kill him. They say, “We’ve gained nothing in trying to stop him. It feels like the whole world is following him. We must stop this.”
Is your reaction to Jesus like that of the Pharisees? The Pharisees hated the gospel. Let’s do a little internal test right now. The gospel says everyone who will place their faith in Christ will be forgiven of their sins and receive eternal life. To place your faith in Christ first means to have the knowledge of who Jesus is and what Jesus did.
Jesus is the eternal second person of the Holy Trinity who took on flesh and dwelt among us. He lived a truly human life yet without sin. He died on the cross bearing God’s wrath for the sins of his people, he was buried, and on the third day he rose again. He ascended to heaven and will return to raise the dead, judge the world, and make all things new. That is the knowledge of Jesus Christ you need.
But knowledge is not enough. You must also ascent that these things are true. But even that is not enough. You must also trust in who Jesus is and what Jesus did to forgive you of your sins and receive the hope of resurrection. Now here’s the internal test – what is your reaction to that message? Does it make you angry? Do you bristle at the thought that you’re a sinner in need of forgiveness? Are you offended by what Scripture says about who Jesus is and what he did for you? Are you offended by what the gospel calls you to believe? If so, you are reacting like the Pharisees. I beg you this morning, don’t react like a Pharisee. Place your faith in Jesus Christ.
The Reaction of the Crowd
That was the reaction of the Pharisees. Second, let’s see the reaction of the crowd. The crowd was large. They gathered to Jesus because they had seen him do miracles; the most glorious was when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. The crowd appeared genuine in their worship. They followed Jesus, waved palm branches, and shouted, “hosanna!” For a time their words and deeds made them seem like they were following Christ.
But the faith of the crowd was fickle. They followed Jesus as long as he gave them what they wanted; so long as he entertained them with his signs. But the same crowd that shouted, “hosanna” on Palm Sunday also shouted, “crucify him” on Good Friday.
Is your reaction to Jesus Christ that of the crowd? Do you want Jesus as long as he gives you health and wealth? Will you come to church so long as the church entertains you? Do you want to follow Jesus as long as things are good? What about when sin and suffering come? What about when the doctor says, “it’s cancer?” What about when your teenagers tell you that they don’t like going to church because it’s boring? Everyone is enamored with Christ at the Red Sea, but what about when you’re eating the manna every day? Is your reaction to Christ that of the crowd?
The Reaction of the Disciples
We have seen the reaction of the Pharisees to Christ and we have seen the reaction of the crowd to Christ. Finally, let’s look at the reaction of the disciples to Christ. Look again at verse 16: His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. John reveals the reaction of the disciples in two different stages: the first is their initial reaction and the second reaction is after Christ was glorified.
Initially the disciples do not understand. His disciples did not understand these things at first. Even a cursory reading of the Gospels reveals that the disciples didn’t fully understand the person and work of Christ during his ministry. Even after his resurrection Jesus still rebukes the disciples for misunderstanding what the Old Testament taught of him.
This is a healthy hermeneutical reminder to us that all of the authors of the Old Testament, and even Jesus’ followers during his lifetime, didn’t fully understand the person and work of Christ until after his resurrection and ascension. Before the first Easter God’s people saw the gospel promise in types and shadows but they did not understand the gospel fully until Jesus rose from the dead. Moses, David, Isaiah and others saw glimpses of Christ but their understanding was incomplete. This is why we must always interpret the Old Testament in light of the New Testament, not vice versa. The New Testament is the answer to all of the Old Testament questions. The Old Testament is shadow but the New Testament is substance.
Even though the disciples did not understand at first, after Jesus resurrected and ascended, they did understand. But when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. John’s parenthetical statement reveals that eventually the disciples fully understood who Jesus is and what Jesus did. The Reformed tradition has always emphasized 2 elements in Christian sanctification: (1) the Spirit and (2) the Word.
John says but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered. What changed for the disciples so that they could then understand who Jesus is and what Jesus did? The answer is that the Holy Spirit indwelt them so that they could rightly understand the Word. After Christ ascended to heaven the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost to indwell the people of God. Once the Spirit indwelt them, the disciples could rightly interpret what the Word had been saying all along.
And the Holy Spirit works in concert with the Word. In the second half of verse 16 John writes, they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. They didn’t just remember what happened on Palm Sunday; they understood what Scripture had been teaching about Christ all along. John intentionally evokes three Old Testament texts in this pericope to reveal what the Old Testament had been teaching about Christ.
First in verse 13 John writes, so they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him. This allusion is not as clear to us because we don’t know the Old Testament as well as these first century Israelites. They would’ve understood immediately. In Leviticus 23 Moses gives God’s old covenant people a list of regulations concerning their different festivals. Verse 40 of Leviticus 23 Moses is discussing the feast of booths and he says, on the first day you must take for yourselves branches from majestic trees—palm branches, branches of leafy trees, and willows of the brook—and you must rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days.
Among other things Palm Sunday reveals to us that Christ is the fulfillment of the feast of booths. When Israel came out of slavery in the Exodus they lived in tents wandering in the wilderness. Every year Israel would reenact this at the festival of booths to remember how YHWH had redeemed them from slavery. Earlier in his gospel John says of Jesus: the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. The word dwelt is the Greek word σκηνόω, which is the word in the Septuagint for tabernacle. Jesus literally tabernacle among us. Israel’s reenactment of tenting in the wilderness with YHWH prefigured when God would tabernacle with us fully and finally in Jesus Christ.
Second in verse 13 John quotes Psalm 118.25-26: “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” Here the Psalmist again alludes to the deliverance of the Exodus to write of God’s final salvation in his anointed one. Jesus Christ is the blessed one who comes in the name of the Lord. Jesus Christ is the true and final king of Israel. The word Hosanna had become a liturgical term by the first century akin to the word hallelujah but originally it meant, “God save us!” Jesus is the one through whom God will save us.
Third in verse 15 John quotes Zechariah 9.9: “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” We read this text in our call to worship. Jesus is the fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophecy of the coming king. He rode into Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey. In the ancient Near East when a king would conquer a new city he would ride in on a warhorse but when he rode into his capitol city he did so on a donkey because it is an animal of peace. Christ rode into Jerusalem on a donkey because he is the one who brings peace between God and his people.
John is showing us that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the entire Old Testament. Jesus and the Apostles had the same Old Testament that we have but it was structured differently. They had three divisions of the Old Testament: (1) the Law, (2) the Prophets, and (3) the writings. Their Old Testament is referred to as the TNK: the Law (torah), the Prophets (navim), and the Writings (katuvim). John alludes to a passage from the Law (Lev 23.40) and he quotes a passage from the Prophets (Zech 9.9) and the Writings (Ps 118.25-26). John is showing us yet again that all of the Old Testament is telling us of the coming of Jesus Christ.
What was true for the disciples is true for us today. We can only see Jesus in the Word by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Word and the Spirit are the lenses through which we rightly see the good news of who Jesus is and what Jesus did. This happens, first and foremost, when the church gathers around the Word and sacrament every Sunday. If you want to see Christ give yourself to the Word by the power of the Holy Spirit every week here at church.
I pray that our reaction to Jesus is that of the disciples. These men were not perfect; they were sinners. But they saw Jesus through the lens of the Word and the Spirit and, in turn, they all gave their lives for Jesus. John, who authored this passage, was the only Apostle who wasn’t martyred. He died of old age but that was after being exiled, persecuted, and tortured for the gospel. Will your reaction to Jesus endure through persecution or martyrdom? The reaction of the Pharisees and the reaction of the crowd would not. But if your reaction to Christ is through the lens of the Word and the Spirit it will.
And when we read the Word with the help of the Spirit this morning we see that this joyous Palm Sunday is five days away from Good Friday. As Jesus rides into Jerusalem he is riding to his death. The word Jerusalem in Hebrew means, “city of peace.” Jesus is riding into the city of peace on the animal of peace in order to bring us peace with God. But our peace must come through Jesus’ violent death. The same crowd that cried, “hosanna” on Sunday will cry, “crucify him” on Friday.
On the cross Jesus died for our sins. He was buried and on the third day he rose again from the dead. Jesus is alive. The resurrection of Christ is the proof that Palm Sunday was true. Jesus Christ is the rightful King. He’s the only human to wrestle sin and death and win.
Conclusion
What is your reaction to Jesus Christ? You have to wrestle with that question this morning. Are you like the Pharisees who despise Christ and want him dead? Are you like the crowd who follow Jesus so long as he benefits or entertains them? Or are you like the disciples who follow Jesus through the Word and Spirit? What is your reaction to Jesus Christ?