Luke 19:28-40

This Sunday is Palm Sunday, and Jesus is entering Jerusalem to die, to be the grain of wheat He spoke about in John 12:24. Palm Sunday is in Jesus’ ministry the anticipation of His victory over death. It’s a celebration of His multiplication -as the grain of wheat- in the life of His disciples, and later in His church. Palm Sunday is a celebration of who Jesus is: He is King, He is the One who brings glory and peace from heaven and fills the hearts of men and women on whom God’s favor rest, as was prophesied by the heavenly host of angels at Jesus’ birth. Next week we will have the assurance of all this with His resurrection.

On the first Palm Sunday, Jerusalem was packed with people who came from far away to celebrate Passover; to celebrate their liberation from Egypt. And according to some records by Flavio Josephus, as many as 2 hundred thousand or maybe 2 million people would have gone to Jerusalem for this celebration. The law required that all male Jew who lived 20 miles around Jerusalem must go to Jerusalem and celebrate Passover in the Holy city. Therefore, Jesus and His disciples went to Jerusalem, and according to the gospel of Luke, -who includes more details of this event- when Jesus came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples spread their garments on the road and began joyfully praising God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen. What they shouted in loud voices was: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” and “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

For the leaders who oversaw Passover these kinds of shouts were not good, these shouts were bad news, a challenge to their safety. If the Roman authorities were to hear that Jesus was being proclaimed king of the Jews, it would have been interpreted as a rebellion and the Roman army could have come. Therefore, the leaders asked Jesus to rebuke His disciples, to keep them quiet. Jesus replied to their request with a profound and challenging statement “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

Now, remember just a few days before, Jesus rose Lazarus from the dead. In that occasion Martha, Lazarus’ sister told Jesus “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” Now that He is entering Jerusalem a multitude is doing the same, they are proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah. The Messiah/King announced by the prophet Zechariah chapter 9 verse 9, “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.

In both cases of being recognized as the Messiah/king – by Martha and the multitude- Jesus did not complain. And I think He did not because His work, His miracles, His teaching, everything He did was not in vain; there was a woman; there was a multitude who “praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen.” They knew who He was, and they, with the power of the Holy Spirit will continue His work; they will continue being the wheat and Jesus will live, will come to life, as a new grain of wheat in each of them. However, we also found that in both cases the group was divided. Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were thankful for the miracle Jesus did, but others were not, they went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. On that moment -The gospel of John says- “they planned to get rid of Jesus.” In both cases Jesus accepted the honor and glory people were giving Him. Most of the times, especially in the gospel of Mark- He always asked people to keep quiet and not tell anyone about the miracles He had performed or not to tell He was the Messiah. But not this time; this time, He knew His time on earth and His ministry is about to be completed; this time, He wants the whole world to know that He is the Messiah/King not only of Israel but the Messiah/King of the whole world. He wanted the world to know “He is the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” John 11:27.

This time Jesus knew that His sermons, His teaching, and miracles are behind Him, and ahead of Him, His suffering; Behind Him are His parables, ahead of Him His passion; Behind Him are His suppers of fellowship, ahead is His last supper; Behind Him are the moments He enjoyed with His friends, ahead the dark Gethsemane and the betrayal. This time, Jesus knew that all the prophecies about Him were about to be fulfilled, if His disciples did not shout it, if they did not tell it to the world, the stones would.

I want to share two thoughts with you about what Palm Sunday is for us nowadays. One: Palm Sunday is a reminder. A reminder, a reminder in which God invites us to continue doing what the multitude begun in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago, which is throwing our garments before Jesus and “praise God in loud voices for all the miracles we had seen.” And second, Palm Sunday is a celebration that challenges us, that challenges all Jesus’ followers to shout aloud who Jesus is and why we have placed our faith and hope in Him.

To throw the garments was a sign that they would serve and follow to the end. Therefore, the celebration of Palm Sunday should have the same meaning for us. To celebrate Palm Sunday is an open statement that we are Jesus’ followers, and we are willing to give up everything to serve Him and be part of His cause. Why should we be willing to give up everything to follow Jesus and be part of His cause? Because that’s what Jesus did for us, he came to Jerusalem to give everything. Even His cloth, He was crucified naked; for us, He placed His life without garments on His back. We are the cause of His death. The same way, we should be willing to give everything to serve Jesus, because Jesus gave up everything when he became human and died for us. If we were the cause of his death, we should also be willing to make Jesus the cause of our life.

The gospel of Luke says that they saw Jesus coming on a donkey and in addition of throwing their garments, they shouted. They shouted because of all the miracles Jesus did. I believe, – and this is my personal thought-, even when the gospels do not say it, this multitude were all those Jesus healed throughout his ministry; they were all the ones who were thankful with the Lord; all the ones who had a personal experience with their Lord and Savior. Why do I believe this? Because when we have a thankful heart, it is easy to give everything we have; when we have a thankful heart, we cannot keep quiet the reason of our joyfulness and we shout for all the world to know it. Mary did too, she wanted the people to know how grateful she was for what Jesus did and she poured out on Jesus’ feet a very expensive perfume which is another way to shout her praises.

Palm Sunday is also a celebration that challenges us, that challenges Jesus’ followers to shout aloud who Jesus is, and why we have placed our faith and hope in Him. Brothers and sisters to share Jesus with others is not an option. Listen to Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:16 (New Living Translation) “Yet preaching the Good News is not something I can boast about. I am compelled by God to do it. How terrible for me if I didn’t preach the Good News!” Paul, as well as all the others who saw or received a miracle from Jesus, all those who experienced a personal and profound encounter with Jesus, from their experiences they got the courage to shout out loud.

Do you remember when you had that personal encounter with Jesus, when you realized he was your Savior and King? Do you remember the feeling you had in your heart? Do you remember the warmness in your heart? Do you remember the desire you had to share it with others? When was the last time you felt it again? That feeling is I believe what Paul had in mind when he told Timothy, “Fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying of my hands.” Without that desire in our hearts we will not be able to shout praises; we will not be able to pass the message to others. The song or hymn called “Pass it on” describes that desire very well, what God wants us to do with what He has done in us, “It only takes a spark to get a fire going And soon all those around can warm up to its glowing That’s how it is with God’s love Once you’ve experienced it You spread your love to everyone You want to pass it on.

What a wondrous time is spring when all the trees are budding the birds begin to sing, the flowers start their blooming that’s how it is with God’s love once you’ve experienced it
You want to sing, it’s fresh like spring you want to pass it on… I’ll shout it from the mountain tops I want the world to know the Lord of love has come to me I want to pass it on.”

Palm Sunday is a great moment to renew that encounter, to reestablish that personal relationship with our Lord and Savior, it’s a great moment to throw our garments and shout once again for the world to know, yes, Jesus is my King; He is the One who gave me joy, happiness, and life.