Palm Sunday - The Start of Holy Week

Today marks the beginning of the Passion Week. This is day Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey and was the day that Christ’s ultimate purpose for being on earth was culminating.

I love the graphic from She Reads Truth for today.

The word "passion" has its stem word from the Greek, passiō and that translates as suffering and enduring. I believe both of those words definitely describe the days ahead for Jesus, the Messiah many failed to see.

The passion week consists of the Triumphal Entry, cursing the fig tree, clearing the temple, most likely times of teaching with the disciples, the Last Supper, Jesus’ prayer and agony in Gethsemane, His betrayal, arrest and trials, crucifixion, death and resurrection.

This day The King of all Creation rode on the back of a lowly donkey into the city of God with declarations of praise that would quickly turn.

Luke 19

28 After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 30 “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”

32 Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?”

34 They replied, “The Lord needs it.”

35 They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. 36 As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.

37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:

38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”

40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 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. 43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls.They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”

As Jesus is entering Jerusalem, He is literally fulfilling prophecy!

Zechariah 9:9

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.

For those who knew the scriptures, this should have been so clear! And not just this but His entire life fulfilled a multitude of Messianic prophecies that the religious leaders would have known well.

But the people miss it. They don’t really get what is happening here. Bill Hybels, former pastor of Willow Creek Community Church says, “But everyone who lined the streets had a different reason for waving those palms. Some were political activists; they’d heard Jesus had supernatural power, and they wanted him to use it to free Israel from Roman rule. Others had loved ones who were sick or dying. They waved branches, hoping for physical healing. Some were onlookers merely looking for something to do, while others were genuine followers who wished Jesus would establish himself as an earthly king. Jesus was the only one in the parade who knew why he was going to Jerusalem – to die. He had a mission, while everyone else had an agenda.”

They missed Him! They missed what was really happening, the stage being set before them, the necessary pieces of the Salvation puzzle being connected together right before their very eyes. But their false expectations of a physical, strong, commanding conqueror didn’t match up to the humility, grace and merciful Jesus.

For Jesus’ faithful followers, though, they participated in a special moment in time.

When one receives prescription glasses, they are only helpful if the prescription is correct and if they wear them. If not, their ability to see will be limited. In that same way, if we are not viewing life through Jesus’ finished work—and instead through our own “goodness”—we’ll lack the ability to see “God moments” in front of us. If we keep our eyes open to God’s work, we can literally be a part of His fulfillment of prophecy.

Humble Entry

The way Jesus entered Jerusalem was deliberate and symbolic. He came in on a donkey. He entered showing that His kingdom is not of this world. He did not come to rule with force or violence.

This sweet guy and I met in Pawhuska, OK at the Tall Grass Prairie when I went to see The Pioneer Woman!

We often think of donkeys as obstinate and stubborn creatures, right? As I was studying I began to wonder about this perception in comparison to Jesus and the choice to ride in on a donkey.

In my searching about this character trait of the donkey, I read, “When a donkey plants his feet and refuses to move, we humans assume he's being stubborn. After all, he obviously knows we want him to move and yet he resists. Our perception is that he is doing it on purpose: moving only when he wants to instead of following our instructions. According to Ben Hart of The Donkey Sanctuary in the United Kingdom, part of our perception might be based on the fact that donkeys look like horses, and so we expect them to act like horses. A donkey doesn't behave like a horse, however; when he refuses to move, he believes he has a good reason. His perception of the situation is different from our own.”

How many of us have prayed and think of God in the same way? That He’s not answering our prayers like we thought He would or should or that He’s taking too long to speak to us and give us what we’re praying about?

Go back and look at Balaam’s Donkey…

22 But God was very angry when he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. 23 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, it turned off the road into a field. Balaam beat it to get it back on the road.

24 Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path through the vineyards, with walls on both sides. 25 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it pressed close to the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot against it. So he beat the donkey again.

26 Then the angel of the Lord moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left. 27 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat it with his staff. 28 Then the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?”

29 Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If only I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.”

30 The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?”

“No,” he said.

31 Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown.

I don’t think it is anything less than a deliberate and intentional selection for Jesus to ride in on a donkey. He sees things differently than we do and He will dig in His feet when it comes to fighting for us. He is unmovable and sure footed in His love and sacrifice for you.

His humble entry also shows us how we are to approach Him—in humility with our own righteousness tossed on the ground at His feet to be trampled so that we cannot pick it up again and instead are clothed with His.

He didn’t show up in Jerusalem on a large horse or even a camel, making a grand statement that would elevate Him above those around. He arrived simply and understated but to the welcome of a King…even though as we have already discussed, was lost on those participating.

Do we see Him for who He is? Do we see the community He has placed us in as He saw the people gathered in Jerusalem? Do we weep over the people?

Do we see our city?

Right after He reaches the city, Jesus weeps for Jerusalem.

The word “wept” in Greek means more than shedding tears. It suggests deep sorrow, the heavy sobbing of a soul in agony.

Jesus, God in flesh, shows us here not just His own feelings but also His Father’s broken heart over the spiritual lostness of the human race and their refusal to turn to God and accept His gift of salvation.

We need to have eyes to see and a heart that breaks like Jesus’. When we look over our city and our community and we realize the weight of their decision to reject Christ, does it cause us to weep? It should.

While I was attending ministry school, one of the pastors who taught a class said to us that if we do not weep over where we serve it is time to consider moving on, to ask God to either renew the burden and call or show us where He is leading us to next. But I believe every Christian, every Jesus follower, should be praying for a heart that weeps over the lost in their area of influence.

We need to feel the urgency to share the story of Jesus, the Gospel, with our family and friends and neighbors. Even with the cashier at the grocery store or the mechanic changing your oil or outcast no one else seems to be interested in. Let the lostness, the desperation of a world searching for answers, cause our hearts to break and our eyes to weep tears of sorrow and longing for their salvation. As Charles Spurgeon wrote,

“If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go unwarned and unprayed for.”

Today, there are many in need of a Savior who rides on donkeys and loves them more than they could ever imagine, so much He endured the journey to the cross and grave. You may already know this love and if you do, you have the charge to share it with others.

I pray that none of us would fail to simply ask God to help us not miss what He is doing or wanting to do in and through each of our lives. Let us not be like those on the street leading into the city who get caught up in the emotion that miss the truth right in front of us.

I also encourage each of us to pray and ask God to help us see our community through the lens of the heart of Jesus, to be broken and strengthened to be His voice to those around us.