This Sunday is Palm Sunday. Once a staple celebration for churches has fallen by the wayside for one reason or another. But Palm Sunday is a significant scriptural event that is so much more than showing us the fickleness of crowds ( we already know that!). It’s about Jesus, how he made the journey from Bethpage probably via the mount of olives and made his way in Jerusalem. Not to mention riding on a colt that fulfilled a prophecy that was 500 years old. ( Zech 9:9)
So can I encourage you today, celebrating Palm Sunday isn’t about clogging up your already full calendar, it’s about acknowledging Jesus as Our saviour king.
You can read the story of Palm Sunday in Luke 19:28-44 (NLT)
Here are three observations of Palm Sunday:
1.JESUS IS MORE THAN A GOOD TEACHER.
When he rode into Jerusalem on that colt the people took of cloaks and grabbed palm branches and placed them on the ground so that his donkey walked on them. The act of laying down cloaks and branches was reserved for royalty, for a king. This moment was a recognition that Jesus was more than a good teacher of the Jewish law, more than a guy who did some miracles, more than a guy who was just … fill in the blank. He was a king, someone who people looked up to and saw worthy of that honour. He was the Son of God.
2.JESUS WASN’T THERE TO LIBERATE THEIR BODIES BUT HE WAS THERE TO LIBERATE THEIR SOULS.
One of the most interesting things about Palm Sunday is the people though Jesus was there to liberate the Jewish people from the foreign oppressive ruler ship of Rome. People thought he was going to overthrow the Romans and liberate the people of that day. But Jesus was there for something more significant, something that would not only benefit and bless a current generation but all people until he returns again. Jesus was there to save their souls. He was there to die in place of their sin, my sin, your sin our sin. He was there to liberate them but not how they had assumed, he was there to liberate the soul.
Jesus death and resurrection has made a way for any person, to come back to the path, through Jesus there is a permanent signpost for us to come back to God through relationship with him.
3.PALM SUNDAY STARTS A WEEK OF PURE PASSION FROM JESUS.
The final week of Jesus’ earthly ministry starts on Palm Sunday.
If you look at all 4 gospels ( Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), almost a third of these 4 gospels combined in on that one last week. In the gospel of John it is almost half of the gospel on one week of Jesus life.
That means its significant, there is so much for us to learn about Jesus and how to follow him from this coming week.
Jesus takes things to the next level, starting on Palm Sunday. When the Pharisees tell him he better do something about the people worshipping him as a king and causing a huge stir in Jerusalem, Jesus turns to them and says if they don’t worship the rocks will start to cry out. The tempo has been turned up, we see Jesus show his passion for God and people who he dearly loves.
Palm Sunday isn’t just the Sunday before Easter, it’s a lesson in the passion of the Christ.