Palm-Passion Sunday
The people of Israel were expecting a Messiah who would come to save them- a great and faithful warrior king, who reflected the national memory of King David, who lived 1000 years earlier. David had united the people into the nation of Israel, and defeated their enemies. This Messiah would be a “son” of David. He would evoke that memory and fulfil that expectation.
There was no shortage of drama regarding David’s historical sons. King David had many sons, and as he entered his final days as a frail old man, one of his sons conspired to steal the monarchy from his brother Solomon, to whom it had been promised to (1 Chron 23:1; 29:22). Adonijah was a charismatic young man and had the support of important and powerful people. He was planning a private coronation alongside numerous powerful officials while his father was ill and in bed.
Solomon’s mother, Bathsheba, and the prophet Nathan warn King David, who then sets a plan in motion before it is too late (1 Kings 1:28-37). The King arranges for a coronation for Solomon that will declare Solomon as king after David beyond any doubt. David also gives Solomon his royal donkey, and he is paraded (from the east) into the city as the true king, in opposition to the false leaders conspiring to steal the throne. The message is clear- This man, riding on a donkey is the true king. … When news gets out, the conspiracy dissolves- Adonijah is afraid, and his supporters scatter.
Jesus retraces these steps of Solomon, riding a donkey into Jerusalem from the east, and in that way declares himself to be a son of David. It is an obvious symbolic declaration that he is the messiah, and everyone would understand. … There are others in the city who claim to rule over the people in one way or another- Herod, Pontius Pilate, the Pharisees and Sadducees- but they are conspirators against the true king, just like Adonijah.
Herod was a kind of puppet king put in power by Rome. The Sadducees ran the Temple, but there was a broad feeling that the Temple leadership had become corrupt, and that God had never really manifested in the 2nd Temple as had been experienced when Solomon built the first temple. After all, the Ark of the Covenant was missing. … There were some who felt that they never really returned from the Babylonian Exile. They were still in a kind of exile from God’s full presence. … The Pharisees were passionate about following the Law, but they added extra rules on top of the law, which went over and above what the law required, which became a heavy burden for many to bear, and at times even seems to create contradictions.
As he processes into the city, the crowd is welcoming Jesus as the Messiah. In the minds of most people the messiah would be a king like King David who would remove the corrupt leadership, unify the country, and free them from Roman occupation. The Messiah would usher in a new Golden Age for their nation.
People saw the arrival of this son of David signaled by the prophets. Zechariah says,
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey…” (Zech 9:9).
Ezekiel, too, mentions God’s presence arriving in Jerusalem from the east which will result in the creation of a new temple (Ez 43).
Solomon built the original temple, which was destroyed by Babylon. It was rebuilt when the people returned from the Exile, and in Jesus’ day, had just been expanded and beautified by King Herod. Jesus will judge this temple (symbolically destroying it), and the temple will be replaced with his resurrected body as the place where heaven and earth overlap, where God and humanity meet.
The symbolism of Jesus’ arrival on the donkey is not lost on the crowds who have gathered for Passover. Remember that Passover is the festival when they remember God rescuing their ancestors from slavery in Egypt. Jesus had miraculously fed people with bread in the wilderness. People were seeing a connection with Moses in Jesus. Moses said to watch for a prophet like him (Deut 18). … The people felt oppressed by the occupying Romans and yearned for freedom. … Now they see Jesus, this miracle worker, who some call the Messiah, riding on a donkey, like David’s son Solomon. And they react with cheering. They cut leafy branches from the trees and place them on the road along with their cloaks.
Laying their cloaks on the ground was a sign of loyalty and dedication. We read about crowds doing this in 2 Kings, where the people welcome King Jehu, who destroyed the evil King Ahab (who was turning the people to the worship of Ba’al, along with his wife Queen Jezebel (2 Kings 9:13)). …
And, In the books of the Maccabees, we read about Jewish leaders who fought against invading Pagan Greek forces in order to regain their freedom and restore Jewish Temple worship. In these books we read about the crowds waving tree branches in celebration of a leader and laying them on the ground (1 Macc 13:51; 2 Macc 10:7).
They cry out, “Hosanna!”, which is a Hebrew word we find in Psalm 118:25 that means something like “save us”. They also cry out saying,
Solomon built the original temple, which was destroyed by Babylon. It was rebuilt when the people returned from the Exile, and in Jesus’ day, had just been expanded and beautified by King Herod. Jesus will judge this temple (symbolically destroying it), and the temple will be replaced with his resurrected body as the place where heaven and earth overlap, where God and humanity meet.
The symbolism of Jesus’ arrival on the donkey is not lost on the crowds who have gathered for Passover. Remember that Passover is the festival when they remember God rescuing their ancestors from slavery in Egypt. Jesus had miraculously fed people with bread in the wilderness. People were seeing a connection with Moses in Jesus. Moses said to watch for a prophet like him (Deut 18). … The people felt oppressed by the occupying Romans and yearned for freedom. … Now they see Jesus, this miracle worker, who some call the Messiah, riding on a donkey, like David’s son Solomon. And they react with cheering. They cut leafy branches from the trees and place them on the road along with their cloaks.
Laying their cloaks on the ground was a sign of loyalty and dedication. We read about crowds doing this in 2 Kings, where the people welcome King Jehu, who destroyed the evil King Ahab (who was turning the people to the worship of Ba’al, along with his wife Queen Jezebel (2 Kings 9:13)). …
And, In the books of the Maccabees, we read about Jewish leaders who fought against invading Pagan Greek forces in order to regain their freedom and restore Jewish Temple worship. In these books we read about the crowds waving tree branches in celebration of a leader and laying them on the ground (1 Macc 13:51; 2 Macc 10:7).
They cry out, “Hosanna!”, which is a Hebrew word we find in Psalm 118:25 that means something like “save us”. They also cry out saying,
“Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!”The crowds expected a Messiah, but their expectations were about a warrior king, who had God on his side, and who would re-established the sovereignty of the nation of Israel. But God had much more in mind for the Messiah. …The enemies Jesus was aiming at weren’t the Romans- it was Sin, Death, and Satan. And defeating those enemies required a different strategy. … Jesus didn’t meet the expectations of the people. They expected a different kind of messiah. And this resulted in him being betrayed, rejected, and killed.
Soon the shouts of “Hosanna!” turned to shouts of "crucify him". The waving palms become soldier’s spears. Instead of an earthly throne he is raised up on the cross. … As he takes on this hate and violence, he gets closer and closer to the real enemies. …
Jesus may be the Son of David, but he is also the Son of God. The destiny of this king was not to bring unity and sovereignty to a nation, but to bring salvation to the world. … This is a different kind of king. Jesus wasn’t interested in fitting into our understanding of the world. He wants to be the light by which we see the world rightly. …
The crowds are us, they are humanity, in all our confusion and mixed-up desires. We have moments of exultation as we cry “Hosanna!”, and we have moments of darkness when we cry “Crucify!”. And he works to save us even when we are fighting against him. Even now, he is working in our lives in unexpected ways- maybe even ways we don’t want. But God is always working for our good.
In Jesus, God was willing to gently ride a donkey and seek our love, rather than command it. Jesus teaches us the depth of God’s love for us, even by allowing us to reject him and crucify him. And even after all that, He will not give up on us. He used even our rejection of him, his own crucifixion, to show the unbelievable depth of his love for us. …
I hope you take the time to walk alongside him this Holy Week, so you can better understand the depth of his love. … AMEN
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