PALM
SUNDAY APRIL 5, 2009 MATT. 21:1-9
RIDE ON, KING JESUS
THEME: We have the choice to follow
the Christ or follow the crowd…
INTRODUCTION
A. The warm air outside the city was filled with
a mixture of excitement and tension…
o The road leading to the city’s gate
was crowded with people, some pushing their way to the front for a better view…
o Outside the city’s walls the
followers of Jesus were filled with anticipation and joy…
o Within those walls the self-righteous
politicians and pious priests wrestled with their fears…
B.
celebrate the
Passover…
o Word had reached them that Jesus was
preparing to enter the city… their reaction was spontaneous…
o They had no grand plan – had made no
preparation – for receiving the One whom many claimed to be the Messiah…
C. Jesus was not going to slip quietly into the
city and lose himself among the crowd of pilgrims…
o No, Jesus was coming to
o It must have been a comical sight –
the humble teacher sitting side-saddle on the small pack animal… if he had
straddled the animal, as a cowboy might, both of his feet would have dragged in
the dust…
o The donkey’s colt was carefully
chosen to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah – “Look, your king is coming to you,
humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
D. Jesus was coming to
them… Jesus knew
what awaited him beyond
E. The followers of Jesus were wild with
excitement… some had traveled with him from Bethphage
or beyond…
others, when they heard the news, ran from the city to greet him…
o It didn’t take long for the crowd
along the roadside to swell in both number and noise…
o Some folks put their cloaks on the road, honoring Jesus with their own “red carpet” treatment…
it was a royal welcome…
o Other folks cut branches from the
palm trees to be waved as banners and flags… and while they waved the branches,
they shouted “Hosanna to the Son of
David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the
highest heaven!”
o His followers were so sure that this
would be the great moment – the moment when Jesus would make everything right…
they were not prepared for what must happen first…
F. Along the road there was nothing but
excitement, but as Jesus made his entrance into
the whole city was
shaken. Unnerved, people were asking, “What’s going on here? Who is this?”
The parade crowd answered, “This is the
prophet Jesus, the one from
<The
Message – Eugene Peterson>
I – THE CROWD
A. Who were the people that lined the roadside
on Palm Sunday? Who were the faces in the crowd?
o I doubt that there were many
shepherds or fishermen within the crowd for they could not abandon their
responsibilities, but there were many in the crowd who knew Jesus well…
o Maybe 9 of the 10 lepers were there…
Jesus had healed them, but they ran away before thanking him… maybe they were
there now to say, “Thank you, Lord! Thank you!”
o Maybe Jairus
was in the crowd… Jesus had raised his daughter from the dead… and maybe
Lazarus, too, for Jesus had also raised him from the dead…
o There were probably many others in
the crowd who had been made well, or been given sight, or had their demons
exorcised by Jesus…
o And some in the crowd had been healed
of their sin and guilt by his mercy and grace…
o Maybe many in the crowd that day had
also been in the crowd of 5,000+ on the hillside when Jesus broke bread and fed
them all with a boy’s sack lunch…
o Perhaps some had come because they
had been captured by his teachings… he was a wonderful teacher and storyteller…
and through his teachings they had come to believe in his way…
o Maybe there were some quiet folk in
the crowd that day to whom Jesus had simply brought a
touch of friendship, a moment of love, a feeling of acceptance, or a glimmer of
hope…
o And children? – Yes! – I’m sure there
were children in the crowd that day, for Jesus had a special way with children…
and he had said, “Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the
B. What is it that draws you to Jesus?
C. There were many people along the avenue
leading into
were truly
followers of Christ, but there were others who were just following the crowd - They
did
not know Jesus,
nor did they know what was happening, but because a crowd had gathered their
curiosity drew
them to the crowd… Crowds always attract the curious…
II – CHRIST OR THE CROWD?
A. How quickly the glad shouts of “Hosanna!”
turned to angry cries of “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
B. The Palm Sunday procession was the prelude to
an execution…
C. On Sunday they welcomed Jesus as their king
with great passion and excitement, by the end of
the week they
were calling for his death…
E. On Friday they crucified him – nailed him to
a cross where he died a painful death…
F. Many of the same people who had crowded the
streets on Palm Sunday to welcome him now
crowded around
the cross – at a safe distance – to watch him draw his last breaths…
G. Who was there? The followers of the Christ
or the followers of the crowd?
III – AND WHO ARE YOU?
A. And who are you - a follower of the Christ or
a follower of the crowd?... There is a difference –
a great
difference…
B. How will others know who you are following?
It is your actions that will
give you away…
C. Others will know who you are following…
o by your commitment to Christ’s church
and your involvement in the congregation…
o by the way you treat those who are
around you – family members, friends and strangers…
o by your love of those who are difficult
to love and your acceptance of those who are not easily accepted…
o by your response to people in need…
o by your priorities and the sacrifices
you willingly make…
o by your forgiveness of those who have
hurt you or wronged you in one way or another…
o by the way you talk to God and listen
for God’s response…
CONCLUSION
A. We each have a choice - the choice to follow
the Christ or the crowd…
B. May our shouts of “Hosanna” always followed by
our faithfulness and commitment to Jesus Christ,
our Lord…