What’s Your Palm Sunday Response?

Palm Sunday, 3/25/18
Mark 11:1-10


What’s Your Palm Sunday Response?
I. Make it “Hosanna!” to your Savior.
II. Make it “Hosanna!” to your King.


Perhaps you’ve noticed the same thing. We tend to celebrate and observe special and important occasions and events in our lives with certain words. Probably the most obvious is the date of your birth. On that day every year you hear and read the words “Happy Birthday!” more times than you can count. And that’s fine because those are the words of our birthday celebrations.

Likewise with graduations and weddings. They’re celebrated with choruses of “Congratulations!” and “God’s blessings!” Everyone seems to share about the same well-wishes. And that’s OK. What else is there to say?

We customarily celebrate events with certain words. And that’s true not only with secular occasions; we do the same in Christianity. A week from now, as we celebrate our Lord’s resurrection from the dead, we’ll literally join Christians around the world in proclaiming loudly and joyfully, “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!” That’s what Christians do. Those are the words we speak on that occasion.

But before we celebrate his resurrection next week, we’ll observe his crucifixion this week. Characteristically, we have no words or phrases that are customary for Good Friday. That’s because there are no words among humans that can capture the horror that is the cross of Christ. This coming Thursday we’ll celebrate our Lord’s institution of the Sacrament of Holy Communion and we’ll do so with the familiar words, “Take eat. This is my body. Take drink. This is my blood.”

And today we join our fellow Christians in celebrating Palm Sunday. By now, you certainly know the characteristic Palm Sunday word. You heard it from our congregation’s children at the very beginning of today’s service just as Jesus heard that word on the first Palm Sunday in history. It’s “Hosanna!” And it’s a beautiful, meaningful word. Literally, it means, “Save!” But it’s become not so much a word of prayer from us to God as it is a word of praise from us about our God.

Next Sunday, when you roll out of bed, I pray your Christian faith responds to the day with your Easter “Alleluia!” and your Easter joy literally carries you here to worship. But what about today? As your feet hit the floor earlier this morning, what word or words came to your mind or to your lips? As it dawned on you that today is Palm Sunday, what was your Christian reaction? What’s your Palm Sunday response? I’m sure you know the answer, but let’s keep that question before us this morning as we ponder Mark’s account of this important day in our Savior’s life.

Part I.

I’d be willing to bet it happens with every parent of teenagers. Their teenager is asking permission to do something with a group of other teenagers. But there won’t be any adult supervision. The parents know the other teens involved well enough to know that they can’t be fully trusted. So, the parents tell their teen in no uncertain terms, “No! You won’t be going with your friends.” As their teen stomps off to her room informing her parents that they have just ruined her life, her mother and father look at each other and calmly state, “Some day she’ll thank us.” That day comes sooner than even they think. The next morning the entire school district is aware of what her friends did and were arrested for.

Their daughter didn’t know she needed her parents’ protection. But her parents knew.

As Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, he knew what was needed, even though the crowds of people didn’t. They were ready to escort him to a place where he would establish his glorious earthly kingdom and begin ruling over them. But that’s not what they needed and Jesus knew that. How do we know that Jesus knew?

Take a look at the simple details Mark relates. Jesus sent two of his disciples into the village ahead of them and he not only gave them directives, he told them exactly what was going to happen and what people would say. Was this just some lucky guess on the part of Jesus? Not a chance. This was Mark’s way under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of reminding us just who Jesus was and is. He is the all-knowing Son of God. He is not only fully aware of the details of huge future events, he also aware of the minute details of mundane future events, such as fetching a donkey for him to ride. In other words, Jesus was fully in control as he made his way into Jerusalem on the first Holy Week. He was there to give the people what they needed.

And he did so even though that’s the last thing his disciples and the people in his welcoming party wanted him to do. If Jesus had told them to follow him to Calvary’s cross, the air would have been filled with the sound of blasphemy and rejection, not joy-filled praise. And Jesus knew it. He knew that their words of praise arose from misguided hearts. He knew he could have them eating out of his hand if he gave them what they wanted. But that would have led to an eternity of trouble. Instead, he rode into Jerusalem to give them what they needed.

Bottom line—he rode into Jerusalem to save us, and by “us” I mean you and me. So, what’s your Palm Sunday response? Just like the first Palm Sunday and every Palm Sunday since, make it “Hosanna!” “Hosanna!” to your Savior!

So, if Jesus rode into Centerville today…in fact, if Jesus rode right into our church and up the center aisle and you knew that he was coming here to do something for you, what would you want that to be? If you had a short list of things, what would be first on that list? I suppose that all depends. It depends on what you’re facing right now. Perhaps your first choice would be a little less stress in your life and a little more happiness and success. Perhaps you’d ask him to perform a healing just like all those healings he performed before the first Palm Sunday. Maybe your list would be a little more practical—a new house, a new job, a new vehicle. Or maybe you’d show how unselfish you are by asking him to do something for one of your children or a relative or friend. But what if you asked him and he declines to do it? Would you stomp off like the teenager I spoke about a few minutes ago? Let’s be honest, that’s been our reaction to our Lord more than we care to admit. Jesus doesn’t always come to us to do what we think we want or need. Instead, he does what he knows we need. He comes to us to bring us what we need most—forgiveness. Did forgiveness even make your list of things you want him to do for you? Maybe that says something about our priorities and our attachment to this life. But Jesus always gives us what we need. That’s why he rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. That’s why he rode into your life at your baptism—to bring you forgiveness. He won it for you on the cross. We’ll observe it this Friday. But today, what’s your Palm Sunday response? Make it “Hosanna!” to your Savior.

Part II.

Our young children still listen to and read stories about kings and queens. As adults we watch documentaries about monarchies. In nostalgic moments, we wonder what it would be like to be royalty. But have you ever wished to live as a subject in a monarchy? I doubt it. Most of us here today are at least three generations separated from living under anything but American democracy. We don’t know anything else and we don’t want anything else. Even though we’re disillusioned at times about our government, we still wouldn’t give up our voice in it.

Being the rugged individualists that we are and having enjoyed the freedoms that we do, we don’t relish living under the whims of a power-drunk king and queen.

But what if that King is your Savior? The first Palm Sunday spectators were thrilled at the prospect of Jesus being their King. I’ll grant that they had various misconceptions about what his kingship meant for them, but you can’t dispute the fact that they wanted him to be their King. Listen to their words of praise, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!” They drew a straight line between King David and King Jesus. That was not a misconception conceived in their misplaced enthusiasm. No, they knew their Scripture. They knew that God had promised to give King David a descendant who would rule forever. They were thrilled to announce that they considered Jesus to be that King. They were ready to submit to his rule and therefore they praised him as their King. And so they offered him their full-throated “Hosanna!”

What’s your Palm Sunday response? Make it “Hosanna!” to your King!

Are you thrilled to have Jesus as your King? Of course you are! It’s one of the reasons you’re here in worship this morning. You consider it to be an immeasurable blessing for Jesus to be your King. You want him to be your King. Until you don’t. Really? Can that be true? Indeed it can and it is… every day. Think about it. What are we telling Jesus with every sin we commit? We’re telling him that we’ll rule this part of our lives for now and we’d appreciate it if he’d allow us that portion of self-determination. We may not think that way, but in reality that’s what we’re doing. Each of our sins pushes Jesus off the throne of our lives and we fill the void with “self.” Jesus knew that’s how we’d respond. That’s why he insisted on riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. It was the first prophecy about him for that week and he would go on to fulfill every prophecy about himself as our Savior, including his death and resurrection.

What a privilege, by the grace of God, to be able to go with our Savior in spirit this Holy Week to the upper room…the trial before Pilate…the cross…the tomb. And next week to behold the empty tomb. Behold Jesus this week…your Savior…your King! And shout your “Hosanna!” as you hold to him by faith and live for him. Amen.