Palm Sunday 2025

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And then Claire is going to preach for us. I'm going to lead us in a prayer. As we hear God's word preached, and as we hear it read, father, I pray that in the reading and preaching of your word that you might meet us this Sunday, help our hearts to do what we've just been praying during the everlasting song of praise to Jesus. Not temporarily, not one that cries out hosanna and then cries out, crucify him, but the everlasting voice that cries, crown him, our King. So be with us now, I pray, as we read your word and as it's preached.

Amen.

Our reading today is taken From Luke, chapter 19, verses 28 to 44.

After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. As he approached Bethphage and Bethany, at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples saying to them, 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. If anyone asks you, why are you untying it? Say, the Lord needs it.

Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, why are you untying the colt? They replied, the Lord needs it. They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it as he went along. People spread their cloaks on the road.

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. Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord, peace in heaven and glory in the highest. Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, teacher, rebuke your disciples. I tell you, he replied, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out. As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 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. 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. 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 recognise the time of God's coming to you. This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Good morning. Another beautiful day. Three weeks of it. Haven't we been Lucky, brilliant Palm Sunday celebration. A chance to delight in the love of a Saviour who, even knowing what was to come, resolutely pray, pressed forward and entered Jerusalem where this final showdown would take place.

But that's not yet. In fact, all four gospels record an awful lot of teaching and work by Jesus in the time period between Palm Sunday and the end of Holy Week. In fact, look at your Bibles in where Palm Sunday actually falls. There's an awful lot afterwards. But at this point, the time has now come for Jesus to go up to Jerusalem.

Having set his face towards Jerusalem after the transfiguration a full 10 chapters ago, Jesus has been slowly making his way southwards, crossing the Jordan and back again, making his way to Jericho and then up to Jerusalem, literally up to Jerusalem. I know some people in the congregation have been to Israel so can testify to this. It's a huge climb from Jericho, which is 800ft below sea level, to Jerusalem which is about two and a half thousand feet above sea level. That's a bit of a climb even for Sheffielders. It's a, literally a city on a hill.

It's a difference of about, what is it, 3,300ft, something like that. And on the Jericho side of the Mount of Olives there are these two little villages, there's Bethany. And then as you climb the Mount of Olives after it is Bethphage. Okay, now many of us know about Bethany, where Lazarus and Mary and Martha lived and where Jesus stayed. But Bethany's not mentioned in this story, although they probably did call in on their way.

But this is the only time that Bethphage features in the Gospels. And it's to this village that Jesus sends two of his disciples to find a donkey, or more accurately the foal of a donkey, a colt. But why? Jesus didn't actually need a steed. He and his disciples had just walked virtually the length of the country.

It didn't need a ride for the last two miles into Jerusalem. So why? What was the purpose? Well, I think there's actually two reasons. One, it contrasted completely with the horses used by the occupying forces of Rome who only days earlier would have paraded as they came into Jerusalem from Caesarea Maritama to supplement the garrison.

Yea, it was Passover, the most important Jewish festival of the city would have been absolutely heathen and the Romans would have been concerned about trouble in the city. So they would have come with their fancy horses and lots and lots of soldiers showing their military might. Jesus was showing that he was different. His strength was not reliant on military strength, but in the power of God. It was also a visual picture of his humility.

Jesus, the servant king, riding a lowly beast of burden. Now secondly, and more importantly, it was also a visual fulfilment of a prophecy made by Zechariah. Now, our reading in Luke does not actually reference this, you do find it in Luke and Matthew. But there would be no doubt in the mind of disciples and those around the reference and the implications. Jesus knew exactly what message he was giving.

It was a deliberate act. He was making a statement. Zechariah 9 reads, Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion. Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem. Lo, your king is coming to you Triumphant and victorious is he humble and riding on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

It was a direct reference to the Messiah, the Saviour of Israel. It was no wonder that disciples and others were so excited and caught up in the celebrations. Now, yes, Jesus has said throughout his ministry and had declared who he was, I am who I am. Peter had declared he was the Messiah. But at last, after all this time, after all the occasions that Jesus had said, not yet and don't tell anybody.

Finally, finally, Jesus was making both the political, they thought, and a theological statement. Now, in our eyes, it might have looked a bit daft seeing a man who we estimate was about 5 foot 5, average height at that time, trotting along on top of a colt. I mean, not even a full sized donkey. It's a colt. It looked a bit daft, but in the eyes of the Jews, that was exactly what they were expecting, the coming of their king.

In addition, I potentially noticed it, but. But it says it had never been risen, which speaks to purity, had never been solid, symbolised holiness. And so they shout the sins, Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Luke adds again, did you notice peace in heaven and glory in the highest. Where have we heard that before?

Yes, in the Nativity stories. Again, John and Matthew include a little bit more Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna means save us.

We use it more as a word of praise now, but in that time it meant save us. They were looking for their Saviour. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. It comes from Psalm 118, the last of the Hallel psalms, used at major festivals, especially for the feast of Tabernacles and Passover. Now, you may remember that Ben preached on The Hillel Psalms two years ago.

Yes. I thought it was a brilliant series actually. I'm not sucking up, I really do think it was a brilliant series. So let's just read this, this little bit from Psalm 118. Lord save us, Lord, grant us success.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord from the house of the Lord, we bless you. The Lord is God and he has made his light shine on us. With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar, up to Jerusalem. And so the procession begins. As I said, it's only about two miles from Bethphage to Jerusalem.

They've gone up the Mount of Olives and they're coming down the other side to the edge of the Kidron Valley. Then they have to go up again into the city. Now, the disciples and those joining them, probably initially those who have heard Jesus in the surrounding area, as I said, obviously he went to Bethany several times and then joined by, don't forget those many hundreds of pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem welcomed and lauded him, their king, their saviour, their Messiah has come. It's time to celebrate. It's time to party.

And so they lay their cloaks before him. Now this was an ancient way of signalling the heightened importance of an individual. Ancient Romans spread out fine garments as ways of welcoming and celebrating their gods, especially in times of crisis. In the stories of Israel's ancient kings, we can see this practise when God chooses a man named Yahu. Don't know if I pronounced that right, to be the next king of Israel.

Now, upon learning that news, the men with Yahu removed their robes and placed them underneath him. It was a signal of respect and reference, especially regarding a king. The garments cast before Jesus though, were mainly the wraps of the poor and the working class. Now you may recall Neil's sermon about the blind man and just how valuable and important a cloak was to a normal, everyday individual Jesus time, it was probably the most treasured possession. Here they were honouring him as king and giving what they had.

And actually they weren't wrong. Indeed, their Saviour, their Messiah, their king had come, just not, as it turns out, in the way that they expected. Their adulation was temporary and many of these people would be bayonet for Christ's blood in four days time. Even his closest friends would turn away from him.

Now you may have noticed the elephant in the room in this Palm Sunday reading. There's no mention of palms. In fact, there's no mention of any greenery whatsoever. Now, Matthew and Luke refer to greenery, but it's only in John where we mention palms. However, there's no doubt that palms were used.

It's just that Luke chose not to mention it, probably because there were some nationalistic overtones. So very, very briefly, palms were used as a celebration for victory, used in the Feast of Tabernacles to celebrate victory and freedom from Egypt. However, in their most recent history, the hundred and fifty years previously, the revolt by Judas Maccabees, who had then been celebrated, and I quote, greys and palm branches by the Jews. As he entered Jerusalem, they saw Judas Maccabeus was a conquering hero. He had set the Jews free from their conquerors and oppressors.

He had cleansed and rededicated the temple which is now known as the Feast of Hanukkah. It's very symbolic in the history of Israel. And so here was Jesus, the new Saviour. Jesus journey to Jerusalem is royal, triumphant, exciting. But we know that the people will turn against him.

We know that many in the crowds who hail Jesus as king this Sunday will be crying out for his crucifixion. Because whilst Jesus had indeed come to give the Jews victory, it was not victory over the Romans, it was victory over sin. When the crowd cried out hosanna, which as I said, means God saves, they did not realise that Jesus had come to save them. But from sin, the Romans were not the real problem. Sin was.

Now, when Luke does not mention Psalms, there are some significant verses where Jesus weeps over Jerusalem. As we've seen, the journey to Jerusalem takes us up the Mount of Olives, down again the other side, and you come to the edge of the Kidron Valley, and then Jerusalem's built on the edge of the other side. So where Jesus is the other side of the Mount of Olives, he can see the city laid out in front of him. A bit like standing on the edge out here and looking over Sheffield. And indeed, a few weeks ago, we had a gospel reading from Luke 13.

And it's there that Jesus first laments over Jerusalem, ending with these words, I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. That time's now fulfilled and Jesus is again nearly in Jerusalem. Jesus weeps over this city, a people and a place that he loves. They're his people, his city. Jerusalem is symbolic of the people of Israel, but in the larger sense of all humanity, it's the centre of opposition to Jesus.

It's also the centre of God's salvation for his people. And in the sequel to Luke Acts, it's from Jerusalem that the good news goes out to the end of the world. But Jesus weeps. He weeps not only for the imminent and total destruction of the city that will happen only 40 years later. Jesus says, if you had only known on this day what would bring you peace, then we have a bit more.

But then it is hidden from your eyes. They will not leave one stone on another. Because you did not recognise the time of God's coming to you, do we?

Right at the beginning of John's Gospel, we read, he came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. But to all who receive him, to those who believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. Jesus wept not only for the city, but because God's people turned away. So this celebratory event is also tinged by the sorrow of a Saviour whose heart grieves for Jerusalem and for us, for those who will not turn to God.

So my question is, where do we see ourselves in this story? Now, obviously, we have the advantage of 2000 years of hindsight and it's easy to judge the characters in this story from a distance. But are we really all that different from them? How quickly does our faith falter from the exhortation of accepting Christ, when God does not seem to deliver what we are expecting? How quickly does our discipleship falter when we realise the great cost of following Jesus?

Do we try and make Jesus into who we want him to be, instead of acknowledging who he really is, a servant king who laid down his life for his people? How often do our interests lead us to deny Jesus and his claim on our lives?

Luke's whole passion story records a variety of human responses, from faith and jubilant praise to mockery, hostility and violence. Here in the story of Palm Sunday, we see the joy, the celebration, the expectation, the sheer delight in seeing the Saviour come. And yes, we too have a real reason to celebrate. Let's not forget that we do have a real reason to celebrate. Even Jesus was not the Messiah the Jews expected.

He was and still is, the true Messiah, the true King and our Redeemer. Our Saviour has come and he still comes to each and every one of us who will lay down who we are and turn to him the Saviour who. Who came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. Christ's goal, his reason for turning his face to Jerusalem and to the cross reflects the will of God to show mercy and to save. And it is up to each and every one of us how we respond.

Amen.