Thoughts on Holy Week (Part 1 - Palm Sunday)

Today begins what is referred to as Holy Week or Passion Week.  It begins with an event that has been come to be known as Palm Sunday, and it ends with Easter, when gloriously, Jesus conquered death itself. 

So, to begin for today, what’s this event, Palm Sunday, all about?  First of all, the term Palm Sunday is a bit misleading, a better term is the Triumphal Entry.  I will explain why I believe this later on.  It was on this day that Jesus Christ entered into Jerusalem with the crowd shouting “Hosanna”; the gospel of John records that the branches were from palm trees (John 12:12-13).

One of the most striking elements of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem is His mode of transportation.  Pastor Rick Ferguson (who will be in Heaven a whopping 20 years this July), captures the big moment in his fantastic book “The Servant Principle”:

“Jesus showed his attitude about status in his triumphal entry into Jerusalem.  The people… were singing his name in praise as they welcomed their King, their Messiah…He is making the grandest entrance of his life, and he’s riding a donkey…Most people wouldn’t associate a donkey with a ride for royalty…It was like showing up at an inaugural ball in a Ford Pinto.  It was like riding to the prom on an old bicycle with your date balancing dangerously on the handlebars.  Jesus should have ridden in a shiny, bullet-proof stretch limousine with a Jacuzzi on the back…But a donkey?  Jesus wasn’t hung up on status.”

Furthermore, Jesus’ ride of choice fulfilled a prediction from centuries earlier.  In Zechariah 9, we read, “Rejoice, greatly, O daughter of Zion!  Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!  Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey” (verse 9).  “This prophecy was fulfilled in every particular,” states a helpful article from got questions.org, “and it was indeed a time of rejoicing as Jerusalem welcomed their King.  Unfortunately, the celebration was not to last.  The crowds looked for a Messiah who would rescue them politically and free them nationally, but Jesus had come to save them spiritually.”  

(From https://www.gotquestions.org/Palm-Sunday.html)

This is why I prefer the term Triumphal Entry to Palm Sunday.  The people who had cut branches from a palm tree were evidently rather fickle.  Tragically, they had misunderstood the point of Jesus’ life and ministry.  In fact, if you fast-forward a few days later, the same crowd who welcomed Jesus with shouts of praise on Sunday were chanting “Crucify Him” on Friday (Matthew 27:22).  Furthermore, Luke records that as Jesus was riding into Jerusalem, He wasn’t jovially high-fiving people; He was actually crying (Luke 19:41). 

In the foreword of the book “No Cape Required” Jefferson Bethke has a helpful word here:

“Everyone in their particular context was looking for an earthly political or military rebel to rise up and take down the pagan empire of Rome…they expected a hero.  What they got did not meet their expectations.  He didn’t look the part.  He didn’t do what they thought a messiah should…They wanted Superman, but it looked like they got Clark Kent instead.  In that last sentence, though, lies the beauty and mystery of this Jesus from Nazareth.  The beauty of Clark Kent is that he is Superman.  And while people might have called Clark names…he was also the one truly saving the day and bringing salvation to Metropolis even though he didn’t get the credit as Clark.  In fact, most people thought Jesus lost at the cross, but looking back we see that was the moment of his ultimate victory.”

In conclusion, 1 Peter says we weren’t redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold, but “with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect” (verse 19).  Then the next verse reads, “He was chosen before the foundation of the world.”  The crowd missed it on the Triumphal Entry.  Jesus was born to die.  It wasn’t an accident that He died on the cross; it was the plan before the foundation of the world.  Why?  Because, as God in human flesh, Jesus was the only one qualified to pay the penalty of humanity’s sin.

Kevin