The King is on Parade

Palm Sunday

April 13, 2000

(cf April 12, 1992)

Luke 19:28-38

Introduction

It may have seemed to the casual observer that this was a very impromptu procession, this parade we call the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. It had all the obvious organization of a pick up game of softball.

But in fact this was a very well planned and deliberate happening, this one Man parade! It had been announced in detail hundreds of years before by a prophet born in Babylon:

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 a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the war horses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth. Zechariah 9:9-10

As unlikely as it seems, even to the casual reader today this was:

I. A PARADE OF INFINITE POWER

  1. Usually when we think of power in a parade we think of booted soldiers marching past Hitler, or massed tanks and missiles filling Red Square. But those powers have come and gone, and the "parade" down Olivet's hill manifested a power that still remains as vital as ever.

    In fact, the people that day were thinking of the Triumphal Procession in terms of power as they understood it! And they were all mistaken about the nature of the power they saw, but real power was there:

  2. The enemies of Jesus saw Him as a threat. They hadn't really worried until they heard He had said that everyday common believers should have righteousness that exceeded the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees themselves! And then there were the miracles! And finally, Lazarus! This Jesus had to be stopped!
  3. Many if not all the friends of Jesus saw Him then as a fulfillment of their dreams. "Will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" "Hosanna to David's son! Surely HE is going to throw out the Romans and their stooges!"
  4. This power, real power, was not what the friends or enemies thought! Jesus was demonstrating the power of LOVE. He was carrying out His mission, which was John 1:12 type power. To as many as were going to receive Him, Jesus was giving the power to become the children of God, to share in God's eternal life, to still be happy and growing and useful when the stars grow old!

II. IT IS A PARADE OF INFINITE DURATION

  1. How long was this procession? About one donkey long or two, if the mother donkey came, too. About an hour's time, or less, if we just count the time when people sang, "Hosanna!" For just a few moments, in order to declare to three worlds that Calvary was not an accident out of His control, Jesus accepted the praise of the multitude. Jesus was King! He knew where He was going that week! He knew Thursday and Friday were out there ahead! But He also knew that He would know the JOY of completing the Father's will, and releasing the mighty power that makes us all God's children. The parade was short just a brief flash of power.
  2. But this movement of Christ toward Jerusalem and the hosannas and the cross and the empty tomb beyond began a long time before even Zechariah prophesied about it! John tells us (in Revelation 13:8) that Jesus was "the Lamb slain from the creation of the world."

    Out of the fullness of His LOVE God sent His Son.

  3. The movement of Jesus toward Jerusalem and the cross was settled in the heart of Jesus long before this brief parade. On the Mount of Transfiguration He had spoken with Moses and Elijah about where He was going. Again and again He had told His disciples that He was going to Jerusalem to die and to take back His life again.
    1. Yet what a strange display of power! Knowing He was going to His death Jesus deliberately kept on doing the things we love Him for; he attended to the details he heard the blind man shouting from the edge of the crowd he saw Zaccheus up in the sycamore tree all this was in Jericho as he was on His final journey to Jerusalem. Even later in this last week of ministry, on the very night He was arrested this King of All Power in Heaven and Earth took a towel and washed His disciples' feet!
    2. And even though at the end of this procession He entered the Temple and, as He had done before, cleansed it with anger, and demonstrated His authority in a way we cannot understand it is true that before He got all the way down the hill– when He was in view of the beautiful Temple, this great King of power stopped his little mount and wept over the city that had rejected Him.

III. A PARADE OF CONTRASTS, OF CHOICES

  1. That first Palm Sunday certainly was a day of contrasts! A Carpenter being called a King! Little children and happy disciples praising and shouting for joy while worried power brokers frowned and plotted evil! Bright sunshine on a happy parade while black storm clouds piled high on the western sky!
  2. There was LOVE and there was HATRED contrasted that day! There was PEACE and there was TURMOIL and STRIFE in stark contrast that day! Suspicion, questioning every motivation, giving no one the benefit of the doubt; while Jesus, who knew what was in the heart of every human being still loved them and believed in them.

    There was WORSHIP taking place that day in stark contrast to BLASPHEMY AND DENIAL OF GOD.

  3. The government, and the power brokers, and the policy makers probably weren't too impressed by the POWER of that parade that first Palm Sunday! The same kinds of people in our own world today are exactly the same! Jesus doesn't really matter! God is a "Private Matter!" Faith is the Great Irrelevancy!

But if we listen and look with the gift of faith, we can see those same contrasts clearly even today: love IS stronger than hatred! Trust IS greater than suspicion and pettiness.

And what is more, if we look and listen with our eyes and ears of faith we can hear this King of Kings say, If you really want to, you can come after Me! Get in line! Join the parade!

The only thing is, to join in the parade we must "Deny our own self sovereignty and say, 'Jesus is LORD!'" and we must take up our own cross, day by day, and then we may follow Him!

Conclusion

And the wonderful thing is that we CAN get in the parade! We CAN, because He DID!

Parades are supposed to inspire. I confess that I enjoy hearing stirring marches, and feel a flutter when the flag goes past. But those kinds of parades pale in comparison to what happens within when the King Himself looks our way and says, "Come, Get in line! Follow on!"

This is the way the writer of Hebrews has put it and how it has worked again and again for me!

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus who, for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him that endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart! Hebrews 12:2,3

Shall we get in His parade? The line forms here!

Prayer: Help us to see with the eyes of faith, and hear with the ears of faith as You bid us to follow You, for we know that You have the power to make us God's own children. Amen

Hymn : Jesus Comes with All His Grace