TRIUMPHANT ENTRY SUNDAY

This is a Significant Sunday in the history of Christendom as it is the Sunday Jesus Christ Triumphantly rode on an horse into the City of Jerusalem.

By nature of the events that herald this Triumphant Entry, it is normally referred to as PALM SUNDAY.

What then is Palm Sunday?

Palm Sunday is the day we celebrate the Triumphant Entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, one week before His resurrection (Matthew 21:1–11).

As Jesus Christ entered the Holy city, He neared the culmination of a long journey toward Golgotha. He had come to save the lost (Luke 19:10), and now was the time—this was the place—to secure that salvation.

Palm Sunday marked the start of what is often called “Passion Week,” the final seven days of Jesus’ earthly ministry. Palm Sunday was the “beginning of the end” of Jesus’ work on earth.

Palm Sunday began with Jesus Christ and His disciples traveling over the Mount of Olives. The Lord sent two disciples ahead into the village of Bethphage to find an animal to ride. They found the unbroken colt of a donkey, just as Jesus Christ had said they would (Luke 19:29–30). When they untied the colt, the owners began to question them. The disciples responded with the answer Jesus Christ had provided: “The Lord needs it” (Luke 19:31–34). Amazingly, the owners were satisfied with that answer and let the disciples go. “They brought the donkey to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus Christ on it” (Luke 19:35).

As Jesus Christ ascended towards Jerusalem, a large multitude gathered around Him. This crowd understood that Jesus Christ was the Messiah. However, what they did not understood was that it wasn’t time to set up the kingdom yet – although Jesus Christ had tried to tell them so (Luke 19:11–12). The crowd’s actions along the road give rise to the name “Palm Sunday”: “A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road” (Matthew 21:8). In strewing their cloaks on the road, the people were giving Jesus the royal treatment—King Jehu was given similar honor at his coronation (2 Kings 9:13). John records the detail that the branches they cut were from palm trees (John 12:13).

On that first Palm Sunday, the people also honoured Jesus Christ verbally: “The crowds that went ahead of Him and those that followed shouted, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!’; ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’. ‘Hosanna in the highest heaven!’” (Matthew 21:9).

In their praise of Jesus Christ, the Jewish crowds were quoting Psalm 118:25–26, an acknowledged prophecy of the Christ. The allusion to a Messianic psalm drew resentment from the religious leaders present: “Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus Christ, ‘Teacher, rebuke your disciples!’ (Luke 19:39). However, Jesus saw no need to rebuke those who told the truth. He replied, “I tell you . . . if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out” (Luke 19:40).

Some 450 to 500 years prior to Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem, the prophet Zechariah had prophesied the event we now call Palm Sunday: “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!  Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!  See, your king comes to you,  righteous and victorious,  lowly and riding on a donkey,  on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9).

The prophecy was fulfilled in every particular, 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 Christ had come to save them Spiritually. First things first, and mankind’s primary need is Spiritual, not Political, Cultural, or National Salvation.

Even as the coatless multitudes waved the palm branches and shouted for joy, they missed the true reason for Jesus’ presence. They could neither see nor understand the cross. That’s why, “as Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it and said, ‘If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies . . . will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you” (Luke 19:41–47).

It is a tragic thing to see the Saviour but not recognize Him for who He is by the crowd.

Think over this as we rejoice in His Triumphant Entry once again!

HAPPY PALM SUNDAY FRIENDS!!!

Moses Durodola

CONVENER, DMC