Palm Sunday

By Randy A. Rathman, Pastor
Harvest Church of the Nazarene
Arab, Alabama

JOHN 12:12-19

Once again we are already at Palm Sunday. This is the first day of the week before Easter! In just one week we will celebrate the most glorious day on the Christian calendar. We couldn’t have Easter without Christmas but without Easter Christmas wouldn’t matter. As we approach this holy day, as we prepare to celebrate the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ it would be great preparation for every family represented here today to begin with the 12th chapter of John’s gospel and read “the rest of the story” together as a family every night for the next week. In fact turn right now to the 12th chapter and let’s read verses 12-19.

This is John’s recount of the “Triumphal Entry” of Jesus into Jerusalem. The gospels tell us that this is happening during Passover. This was the biggest event on the Jewish calendar so there were throngs of pilgrims in town for the celebration. John tells us in the preceding verses that when the crowds heard Jesus was in Bethany, just outside of Jerusalem, they came to see Him and Lazarus who Jesus had raised from the dead. On the next day when Jesus made His grand entry the same crowds lined the road waving palm branches and shouted “Hosanna!” The same crowds proclaimed Jesus King of Israel and acknowledged that He came “in the name of the Lord.” They were collectively testifying to the fulfillment of ancient prophecy and proclaim Jesus to be their long awaited Messiah.

The word Hosanna is a Hebrew expression meaning “Save!” which became an exclamation of praise. The Psalmist wrote, “O Lord, save us; O Lord, grant us success. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. The Lord is God, and he has made his light shine upon us. With boughs (palm branches) in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar” (118: 25-27). Palm branches were used in celebration of victory because they were proclaiming Jesus as their long awaited Messiah. The crowds were doing precisely what the prophet Zechariah had told them to do, “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on the colt, the foal of a donkey” (9:9). None of what we read was an accident or mere chance. It was all the result of divine providence, the fulfillment of prophecy given by God and proclaimed by men.

Less than a week later the same crowds asked Pilate to release the rebel Barabbas rather than Jesus and then clamored for His crucifixion. What happened? Why the abrupt change of sentiment? In a matter of a few days these people went from proclaiming Jesus Messiah and King to “Crucify Him!” Are you as incredulous about this whole turn of events as I am? I think it all has to do with expectations of people and the sovereignty of God. In the minds of the people they were looking forward to a Messiah who would return them to their previous economic and political power in this world. They had a temporal rather than an eternal perspective. On Palm Sunday they proclaimed Jesus as Messiah and King but on Monday nothing had changed. On Tuesday nothing had changed, their expectations had not been met. By Friday they felt like they had been duped.

But thank God for His Divine Providence in the history of mankind. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will-to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment-to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will…” (Eph. 1:3-12a).

Did you catch that what God had promised would be put into effect when the time was right? We humans have all kinds of expectations and we want to set our own time table, “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:8, 9).

It occurs to me that we can so easily point a finger at the crowds who greeted Jesus one day and turned on him a few days later. But you know I have observed that when we point a finger at someone else we have three pointing right back at us. When we see the splinter in our brother’s eye it is a reflection of the log in our own eye. It is easy for us to criticize and blame others but it is critical that we ask God to examine us and show us what we need to be dealing with in our own lives before we try to “help” others (Matt. 7:1-5).

We are in the season of Lent. Did you know that the word Lent is derived from the ancient Saxon “Leneten” which means spring? I can sure see the connection as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Spring is my favorite time of year when I watch nature come back to life after the death of winter. Winter is so cold, the days get shorter and so much of nature just disappears or dies until spring. As the days begin to lengthen we see the first green shoots come out of the ground and the trees begin to bud new leaves. I just love it. But for the Christian Lent is more than the heralding of spring, so much more.

Lent was evidently first practiced a couple of centuries after the resurrection of Christ. It was not an apostolic event but it was an early church practice intended to prepare candidates for baptism on Easter Sunday. It seems to me that it is a very appropriate opportunity for all Christians to reflect on their personal spiritual condition as we prepare to celebrate the resurrection of our Savior next Sunday. We will share communion next Sunday and Scripture warns us to examine ourselves in preparation lest we be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord (I Cor. 11:27-32).


Lent begins with Ash Wednesday and includes the 40 weekdays before Easter Sunday. Because the Christian church celebrates the resurrection of Christ every Sunday we exclude the day of worship and only count the weekdays. It was customary in the past to smear ash on your face as a reminder that our physical body is dust, we will all return to the earth one day. But as Christians we have the hope of resurrection to eternal life through Jesus Christ.

Lent is not the only tradition of this season. Have you ever wondered about Carnival or Mardi Gras? Ever wonder where they came from. In Latin Carnival means “removal of meat.” It is the three-day period before Lent. These three days are also called “Shrovetide,” which is the Saxon word for “repent.” You get the picture? Those three days before we actually start Lent we are suppose to be getting ready to repent. Mardi Gras is French for “fat Tuesday” which is to contrast the fasting during Lent. The entire three-day period before Lent has come to be known as Mardi Gras or Carnival. Wow, you talk about getting things messed up? How in the world did we get to Carnivals like Mardi Gras from getting ready for a season of repentance and prayer in preparation for Easter?

This is a classic example of how mankind operates from a temporal rather than an eternal perspective. This is exactly why so many people today still do not recognize who Jesus Christ really is and what He has done for them.

When the crowds greeted Jesus with Palm branches and shouted Hosanna! Who or what were they expecting Jesus to save them from? The Romans of course because they had a temporal perspective. “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned” (I Cor. 2:14, 15).

The early Christians realized who the real enemy was and the words of Peter should remind us today what this is all about. “All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of suffering. And the God of grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To Him be the power for ever and ever. Amen” (I Pet. 5:5b-11).

“Thank You Jesus for what You have done for us. Thank You for the reality we share having been buried with You through baptism into death so that we too might be raised from the dead through the glory of the Father to new life by Your indwelling Holy Spirit. Amen.” (Rom. 6:1-14).