Communion With the Christ:: Palm Sunday: When Jesus Rides In

"Tell you the daughter of Zion, Behold, your King comes to you, meek,

and sitting on an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass." Zech: 9:9

As Jesus Christ rode into the Holy city of Jerusalem, which Christians commemorate on Palm Sunday and begins the Holy Week observances.

Many , who lined the road that day when Jesus came into the Holy city shouting hosanna! believed that Jesus' entrance into the city would bring about all the things that Israel had hoped for all those many year. There was an air of expectancy in the crowd. It was for them an apocalyptic moment.

Each of the Gospels give an account of this event. It seemed to many, the fulfillment of the prophecy in Zechariah was unfolding before their eyes. The Messiah was come and with him the Messianic Kingdom which they saw as the restoration of Israel.

"And when they drew near to Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, to the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, Saying to them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway you shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them to me.And if any man say ought to you, you shall say, The Lord has need of them; and straightway he will send them. All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, "Tell you the daughter of Zion, Behold, your King comes to you, meek, and sitting on an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass."

And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strewed them in the way." Matt: 21:1-8

The palm branches which they waved and cast before the joyful procession shows that they believed that the Messianic kingdom had arrived. The palm branch was used to build the "booths" or "Tabernacle" for the Feast of Tabernacles which was part of the Old Covenant Holy Days, (see Leviticus:23) This particular Feast was associates with the Kingdom of the Messiah due to its mention in the prophecy found in Zech:14:16-19 which also speaks of the Messiah's victory over the nations in rebellion against the God of Israel. The people believed that victory was now at hand.

Hosanna!

As Jesus came into the Holy city all of Jerusalem was stirred by his entrance. There were shouts of rejoicing, the people cried out Hosanna!, which means literally "save now" or "Salvation Now!

This cry reveals more than we might first believe, it not only reflected their hopes that the appointed time of the restoration of Israel had arrived, but it also was a veiled demand on their part to guide the course of events and to benefit as much they could from Jesus. It also exposed an impatience to wait for Jesus to act as he would in his time and his way.

"And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee". Matt:9-11

The Temple

Jesus' first action was to go to the Temple, the very center of Israel's relationship with their God. This relationship had been turned into a business and become more of a transaction rather than a relationship in the hands of some of the religious establishment. Many of the activities that were taking place were not appropriate for the Temple of God.

Jesus, upon entering the Temple and seeing the merchandising be conducted there by some of the money changers under the permission of the religious establishment, was then moved zealously and drove them out, and all of those who made merchandise of religion and exploited the people.

Jesus' actions were to demonstrate the reverence the people of Israel should have in the worship of the Holy God and that the administration of that worship should be done reverently and for the good of people who were under the religious establishment's care and should be more spiritual rather than materially oriented.

"And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the seats of them that sold doves, And said to them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but you have made it a den of thieves" (12-13)

Many of the Jewish people sought for the Kingdom to be set up then and there, but as the Biblical accounts shows us the religious leaders conspired with and through Judas' discontent and greed, resulting in the arrest of our Lord and his death on the cross.

Not What They Wanted

Many in the crowd did not get from Jesus what they had wanted. These persons missed the point of Jesus' coming into Jerusalem. Jesus, instead of establishing the "kingdom" as the crowds envisioned it to be established, Jesus went to the Temple of God and removed those things that did not belong; it seems that Jesus was more interested in their relationship with God rather than political objectives of some of the people.

Jesus did not, at that moment, come to give them the kind of victorious Kingdom which they wanted, but rather, one just as real and ultimately greater than they could conceive. Jesus , however, acted out more than they understood through the whole procession into the city and his actions at the Temple.

When He Rides In

The same thing can occur with us today. When Jesus rides into the Jerusalem of our lives, we can rejoice and give glad shouts of Hosanna and anticipate that all those things which we hoped for will be ours.

We may hope for victory over life's challenges and personal difficulties, we may want his Kingdom in all its fullness immediately along with all those things Scripture holds forth to each and all of us. Yet, we each and all can be like the crowds on that Sunday so long ago in our impatience, we shout Hosanna! "save now" we want to impose our wills upon Jesus, to have him be a King who works according to our personal agendas.

At times we cry out "save now!”, and when our Lord chooses another purpose in our lives, we can become disappointed just as some of those who shouted the cry of "Hosanna!" at Jesus' entry in to Jerusalem.

Many of those persons within the week were lifting their voices as part of an angry mob which cried out calling for Jesus' crucifixion. Instead of giving us wealth and power Jesus instead moves to the temple courts of our lives, that is the very heart of our relationship with God to deal with the very heart of our relationship with God.

Jesus rides in to our lives and out drives out the merchandisers of our inner most being, that is our selfish motivations and desires. There is no place for them in the temple court of our relationship with the Great God. We are to a "house of prayer", persons who are in communion with the great God.

Victory

The glorious entry, when Jesus rode humbly into the city of Jerusalem, even as the crowd shouted and waved the palm branches, on that donkey with the colt which walked aside him only peered ahead to that great day of victory which our Lord will share with us all.

In Revelation we see those who have freely received Jesus as their Lord each taking hold his Kingdom symbolized by the palm beaches that they held.

That colt of the donkey that walked along in the procession reflects how our victory is born out of Jesus victory, that colt is each and all of ours’ to ride. That colt was born out of the donkey which Jesus sat upon and speaks to us of our victory which comes from Jesus'. Kings in the ancient times sat upon donkeys, and the colt represents our shared royalty and reign with and through our Lord Jesus.

"After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and tribes, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands" Rev:7:9

At the parting of the Heavens there is a great shout, we see Jesus riding that glorious white horse which symbolized victory in the ancient world. Jesus is followed by all who have come to believe in him riding upon white horses as well , which was pictured by the colt that trotted along with him as Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem on that Palm Sunday so long ago.

"And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he does judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a clothing dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treads the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he has on his clothing and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS" Rev:19:11-16

Each and all of us are caught up and in Jesus' wake of victory as he brings at long last his Messianic Kingdom over all things. In Jesus we can have a transformed life in hope as we await that glorious day which Palm Sunday looked ahead to. This is what we await when Jesus rides into the Jerusalem our lives.

Benediction: May we each and all ever look to our Lord Jesus who brings us an all-new life in his Kingdom, today, tomorrow and forevermore Amen!