Into the city I’d follow
the children’s band.
Waving the branch of a palm tree
high in my hand.
One of his heralds,
yes, I would sing,
Loudest Hosannas,
Jesus is king.
Introduction
Today is Palm Sunday, also known as the Second Sunday of the Passion. It is also the first day of Holy Week; the day we remember Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey with crowds surrounding him, waving palm branches and shouting Hosanna!
Hosanna to the Son of David!
Hosanna in the highest!
Blessèd is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest!
Sisters and brothers in Christ, during Lent we have been preparing for the celebration of our Lord’s death and resurrection. Today we begin this solemn celebration in union with Christians throughout the world. Our Lord Jesus Christ entered Jerusalem in triumph to complete his work as our Saviour; to be rejected, to suffer and die, and to be raised from the dead.
Let us go with him in faith and love, so that, united with him in his sufferings, we may share his risen life.
Hymn: Singing the Faith 264
1 Make way, make way, for Christ the King
in splendour arrives;
fling wide the gates and welcome him
into your lives.
Make way (Make way), make way (make way),
for the King of kings (for the King of kings);
make way (make way), make way (make way),
and let his Kingdom in.
2 He comes the broken hearts to heal,
the prisoners to free;
the deaf shall hear, the lame shall dance,
the blind shall see.
3 And those who mourn with heavy hearts,
who weep and sigh,
with laughter, joy and royal crown
he’ll beautify.
4 We call you now to worship him
as Lord of all,
to have no gods before him,
their thrones must fall!
Graham Kendrick (b. 1950)
Reproduced from Singing the Faith Electronic Words Edition, number 264
Words and Music: © 1986, Thankyou Music. Administered by worshiptogether.com Songs, excluding UK & Europe, administered by Kingswaysongs, a division of David C Cook <tym@kingsway.co.uk> Used by permission.
Prayers
God our Saviour,
whose Son entered Jerusalem as Messiah to suffer and die:
may these palms be for us a sign of his victory;
may we who carry them ever hail him as king
and follow him in the way that leads to eternal life.
With all the faithful,
may we enter the new Jerusalem in triumph;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
Loving God,
We have sinned against you
in what we have thought, said and done.
We have not loved you with our whole heart;
we have not loved our neighbours as ourselves.
We are truly sorry
and turn away from what is wrong.
Forgive us for the sake of your Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
The Lord’s Prayer
Hymn: Singing the Faith 262
1 All glory, laud, and honour
to thee, Redeemer, King,
to whom the lips of children
made sweet hosannas ring!
Thou art the King of Israel,
thou David’s royal Son,
who in the Lord’s name comest,
the King and Blessèd One.
2 The company of angels
are praising thee on high,
and mortal men and all things
created make reply.
The people of the Hebrews
with palms before thee went;
our praise and prayer and anthems
before thee we present.
3 To thee before thy Passion
they sang their hymns of praise;
to thee now high exalted
our melody we raise.
Thou didst accept their praises;
accept the prayers we bring,
who in all good delightest,
thou good and gracious King.
4 All glory, laud, and honour
to thee, Redeemer, King,
to whom the lips of children
made sweet hosannas ring!
St Theodulph of Orleans (d. 821)
translated by John Mason Neale (1811–1866)
Reproduced from Singing the Faith Electronic Words Edition, number 262
Scripture
Matthew 21: 1-11
As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
“Say to Daughter Zion,
‘See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”
The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”
The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Hymn: Hymns & Psalms 163
Children of Jerusalem
sang the praise of Jesus’ name;
children, too, of modern days,
join to sing the Saviour’s praise:
Hark! Hark! Hark!
While children’s voices sing.
Hark! Hark! Hark!
While children’s voices sing.
Loud hosannas, loud hosannas,
loud hosannas to our King.
We are taught to love the Lord.
We are taught to read his word.
We are taught the way to heaven;
praise for all to God be given:
Parents, teachers, old and young,
all unite to swell the song;
higher and yet higher rise,
till hosannas reach the skies:
John Henley (1800-1842)
Sermon
The time, the early thirties AD. The place, Jerusalem; the Western gate to the city. A man is riding towards Jerusalem, seated on a horse, wearing ceremonial armour. Accompanying him is a Roman Legion, marching behind him in perfect formation. The man is Pontius Pilate and this is a display of power, the power of the conqueror, the power of the Roman Empire that rules Judea; power invested in Pilate, the Roman governor.
The time, the early thirties AD. The place, Jerusalem; the Eastern gate to the city. Another man is riding towards Jerusalem at the same time, seated on a young donkey and wearing a simple tunic and prayer shawl. He is followed by a small motley group of peasants who are cheering him. Soon others join in, laying their cloaks or palm leaves on the road as he approaches. Soon there is a large and noisy crowd surrounding him cheering and shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David.” The man is Jesus of Nazareth and he has come to make his claim as Messiah, the Son of God who is the true ruler, not only of Israel but of the whole world.
The contrast could not be greater and many people on that day would assume that real power lay with Pilate. They would be wrong!
It is obvious when we read any of the gospel accounts of the first Palm Sunday that this was a deliberate act by Jesus, one he had been planning for weeks if not months. All the clues are there.
First Jesus sends his disciples into the village to collect the ass and its foal. If they are challenged, they are to use the words, “the Lord needs them” and they will be able to take them. Those words are obviously a pre-arranged password.
There is planning in the use of two animals. Jesus is deliberately fulfilling the words of the prophet Zechariah:
“See, your King comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
Jesus did not, of course, somehow straddle and ride both animals. He rode the foal. The other donkey was its mother and was brought along to keep the foal calm because it had never been ridden before.
The fact that the foal had never been ridden before is also part of Jesus planning. It made the animal especially suitable for this sacred purpose; Jesus public proclamation of himself as Messiah.
Some Christians don’t like planning things; whether it is worship, writing sermons, leading prayer meetings or other events some Christians think that planning things stifles creativity and the guidance of God’s Holy Spirit. Planning and meetings are essential for all sorts of Christian activities, its meetings without direction or purpose I don’t like.
As Christians Jesus is our Lord and Saviour and as his disciples, we are called to be like him. If Jesus, the Son of God, needed to make plans and think about things in advance then surely, we do too.
But why did Jesus do this? Why did he plan to enter Jerusalem deliberately in a particular way?
I’m sure that we’ve all heard the phrase “actions speak louder than words” and this is exactly the reason why Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey.
Jesus entry into Jerusalem was a dramatic act to send a very strong message. The message that he was the Messiah, the Son of God.
Jesus entry into Jerusalem was inspired by the prophet Zechariah, but not only by Zechariah. In 2 Kings 9:13 we read that when the supporters of Jehu proclaimed him King “they all took their cloaks and spread them for him on the bare steps and they blew the trumpet.” Jesus’ supporters, when they spread their cloaks on the ground, would have had this verse in mind.
Jesus may well have had another incident in Jewish history in mind too. One of the worst disasters of Jewish history was the capture of Jerusalem by Antiochus Epiphanes in about 175 BC. He deliberately defiled the Temple by sacrificing a pig on the altar, making offerings to the Greek god Zeus and turning the Temple chambers into public brothels. It was then that the Maccabees rose against him and threw him out of Judea. When the Temple was restored and purified Judas Maccabeus rode into Jerusalem and the people waved palm branches and cheered him on.
Jesus was proclaiming himself King by a prophetic act that would have been instantly obvious to the people. He was also proclaiming exactly what kind of King he was: he was a peaceful King. When a king entered a city riding on a horse it was a sign of war. When a king entered a city riding on a donkey it was a sign that he came in peace. By riding the donkey Jesus was indeed claiming to be King of the Jews, but he came as a peaceful king. As William Barclay writes, “He showed them that he came not to destroy, but to love; not to condemn, but to help; not in the might of arms but in the strength of love.”
Jesus’ timing was perfect. It has been estimated that the number of Jews in Jerusalem for the Passover festival would have been around two and a half million. They came not only from Judea and Galilee but from all over the Roman world. Jesus chose the tine and place of the greatest gathering of the Jewish people in the ancient world to make his claim as their Messiah.
By riding into Jerusalem on that donkey Jesus was making a very public appeal to his own people to embrace him as their messiah, to open their hearts and minds to his teaching; the follow him in a revolution, not of violence and might, but a revolution of peace and forgiveness and love.
Jesus calls us too to a revolution of peace, forgiveness an love. Will we follow that call?
Hymn: Singing the Faith 265
1 Ride on, ride on in majesty!
Hark, all the tribes ‘Hosanna!’ cry;
your humble beast pursues its road
with palms and scattered garments strowed.
2 Ride on, ride on in majesty!
In lowly pomp ride on to die:
O Christ, your triumphs now begin
o’er captive death and conquered sin.
3 Ride on, ride on in majesty!
The wingèd squadrons of the sky
look down with sad and wondering eyes
to see the approaching sacrifice.
4 Ride on, ride on in majesty!
Your last and fiercest strife is nigh;
the Father, on his sapphire throne,
expects his own anointed Son.
5 Ride on, ride on in majesty!
In lowly pomp ride on to die;
bow your meek head to mortal pain,
then take, O God, your power, and reign.
Henry Hart Milman (1791–1868)
Reproduced from Singing the Faith Electronic Words Edition, number 265
Blessing
The Lord give strength to his people.
The Lord bless his people with peace.
Amen.
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