by Dave Wilkinson

Mark 11:1-10, Zechariah 9: 9

March 23, 2002

This isn’t the first. It won’t be the last. Jerusalem has seen many triumphal entries.

This "stronghold of Zion" was captured in the sixth year of King David’s reign. David moved his capital from Hebron to Jerusalem. He built his home and established his family. Then he brought the Ark of the Covenant — the sign of the presence of God. Caught up in spiritual ecstasy, David went before the Ark into the city, dancing before the Lord with all his might. "So David and all the house of Israel brought up the Ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the horn." That’s triumph!

Jerusalem continued to experience conquest and triumphal entries. Egyptians, Babylonians, Alexander the Great, Antioches Epiphanies, Judas Maccabaeus, General Pompey of Rome — all took turns riding through the streets.

Herod the Great rebuilt the temple, restored the fortifications, and built a magnificent palace. This was the Jerusalem Jesus knew. Then, in 70 A.D. the Romans under Titus captured Jerusalem. Once again there was foreign triumph. The city was devastated. Nineteen hundred years have passed. Too many to be remembered are the triumphal entries which have come and gone -- Moslems, Crusaders, Moslems again — different kinds of Moslems.. The Twentieth Century saw the triumphal entry of General Allenby during World War 1, the victorious Jordanian Hashemites in the mid-forties, and the triumphant Israelis in the six-day war of 1967. Triumph!

Today, Palm Sunday, we celebrate yet another entry into Jerusalem — the entry of Jesus. This one is different from all the others. It is so different that you might ask, "That’s triumph?"

Yes, it is. But it’s a very different textured triumph. Jerusalem has never seen a victor like Jesus.

Let’s look at five specific qualities, which mark Palm Sunday as a day of triumph.

First, Palm Sunday is a triumph of self-awareness. Jesus knows who He is, and that’s all that matters.

Jesus knows that He is the one prophesied in the Old Testament. Isaiah had predicted this day. Zechariah had given a precise description:

"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!

Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!

Lo, your King comes to you;

Triumphant and victorious is He,

Humble and riding on an ass,

On a colt, the foal of an ass."

With these Biblical prophecies fixed in His mind, Jesus sends two of His disciples to a village. He tells them that they will find a young donkey on which no one has ever ridden.

Jesus is declaring His Messiahship. He is deliberately triggering the minds of all who know their Old Testament scriptures. The horse was ridden as a sign of war. The donkey was the animal of peace.

Jesus is making no appeal to force. But He is stating in no uncertain terms that the one promised by the prophets has arrived. He has arrived with an offer of peace.

He knows who He is. He has come for a specific purpose. No one or nothing can alter this self-disclosing act.

Second, in Palm Sunday, there is a triumph of timing. Jesus knows how to take advantage of the right moment to make the appropriate impact.

Timing is so crucial. You can say the right words at the wrong time and they’ll fall flat. Timing is basic to humor. You also see it in athletics.

Now I’m not usually a fan of athletes who wear overcoats and droopy shorts. But I was totally amazed by the three young men who won Olympic medals for the U.S. in snowboarding. The precision with which they performed their aerial maneuvers’s was incredible. I’m still not sure what amplitude is but at least now I’ve see it.

Nothing can be more apparent in watching athletic events than the absolute necessity of perfect timing. That’s the difference between winning and losing.

Jesus knows that the Old Testament prophecy is to be fulfilled. His timing is precise. Those around Him have their own ideas of when He should make His move. They think they know best. On many occasions, Jesus said, "My time has not come." Now the time has come.

Look at the dynamics surrounding Jerusalem. It is the Passover season. The Apostle John tells us that six days before Passover Jesus came to Bethany. Word leaks out that He is in town. They want to see this man who had raised Lazarus from the dead. By now the chief priests have gotten their heads together. Not only are they planning to put Jesus to death, they also want to kill Lazarus. Word of the miracle has caused many of the Jews to believe in Jesus. He is a marked man.

Now Jesus seats Himself on top of that donkey and heads with His disciples toward Jerusalem at a time when the city is jam-packed with religious pilgrims.

As many as one hundred thousand pilgrims came to Jerusalem annually for the feast. It is an unsettling time for the Roman rulers. It’s hard to manage religious enthusiasts. It is a time of commerce. Animals are needed to carry out the sacrifices. Wines and spices are needed for the feast. So Jerusalem is filled to capacity.

Mingled among the crowds in Jerusalem are many from Galilee. Some of the five thousand whom He had fed — some who had heard Him read the Scriptures in the synagogue at Capernaum — some are there from Nazareth.

The crowd begins to gather as Jesus and the disciples slowly make their way over the few miles from Bethany to Jerusalem. Crowds from the villages already identify the symbols. They shout out their Hosannas. They merge with the city crowd. Quickly the word spreads. Enthusiasm builds. Some tear off their outer garments and throw them on the road. Some strip branches from the palm trees. Mark records: "And those who went before and those who followed cried out, "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is coming! Hosanna in the highest!"

Jesus is a master of timing. Some would minimize the impact of His triumphal entry. They would pretend that it was only a small, fairly unnoticed event. That attitude does not square with the Scriptures. All Jerusalem became aware that Jesus of Nazareth is entering the city. His timing is perfect. It always is.

He has a way of sensing the right moment. He has a way of touching you at your time of greatest need. Now, we may not like His timing. We may think we have better plans. But Jesus knows His time and our time.

Third, In Palm Sunday, there is a triumph of objective truth. Let me explain that.

You know how easy it is to adapt to the expedient. Last week we saw that it was expedience that led the enemies of Jesus to seek His death. Jesus doesn’t go this route.

Luke records that some of the Pharisees are mingling with the multitude. They go to Jesus and ask Him to bring this dangerous celebration to a screeching halt. "…Teacher, rebuke your disciples." It isn’t too late for Jesus to compromise. He could still call off His disciples. He could still join their establishment. He could defuse the forthcoming conflict with religious Jerusalem. His answer: "I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out."

What does Jesus mean by that strange answer? It seems to me that Jesus Christ is saying, "I am the Lord whether or not the people say so. Right now, the people instinctively and universally recognize my Lordship. But my Lordship is not really dependent on whether or not they recognize it. If they were silent…"

You see, something far more important than a subjective response, something more important even than your faith, takes place on Holy Week – and that is the cross and the empty tomb as historic facts. Jesus Christ on the cross is going to take our sins and disarm them. In the empty tomb on Easter morning, He is going to actually conquer sin, and death. These facts are going to stand, and they are going to have their own inner affirmation of what truth really is.

Christ died for you whether you believe it or not. Christ conquered death whether you like it or not. Our faith does not turn the cross on or off. Our faith does not turn His victory on or off. Your faith does not trigger His love.

And that’s a tremendous relief to know that the love of God is not like some great faucet that is turned on or off by our faith. No, our faith responds to that love. The love of God is prior to your faith and mine. The love of God, the power of God, the greatness of God, revealed now in Jesus Christ supremely for all times, is an objective fact whether I like it or not, whether I understand it or not, whether I feel it or not. That’s what Jesus tells us – "If these stones were silent…"

Fourth, in Palm Sunday, there is a triumph of ultimate concern. Jesus has a realistic concern for the fickle crowd.

What a thrill it must have been to hear the Hosannas — to feel the crowd’s enthusiasm — to be cooled by the waving palm branches. After all, there’s nothing wrong with enjoying a moment of success.

Couldn’t Jesus enjoy the crowd’s enthusiasm? No. He won’t bathe in the crowd’s emotions when He knows what He knows.

As Jesus and the crowd come around the bend and begin the descent from the Mt. Of Olives, the city of Jerusalem comes into full view.

Some years ago, Carol and I were in Israel as part of a tour. We had spent the day at Jericho and Masada. As night fell we climbed toward Jerusalem.

Our bus traveled the ancient roads that lead over the Mt. of Olives. We traveled through small stone villages and ancient groves. And suddenly we turned a corner and the entire city of Jerusalem was spread out before us – the great walls, the Moslem dome of the rock, the ancient gates all bathed in light. It is an awesome sight – one that I will never forget. I felt a tremendous surge of excitement. My excitement was the excitement of a tourist.

Jesus wasn’t there as a tourist. So Jesus’ response, as He came around that same corner, was very different. Jesus stops. He looks out over the city, "Jerusalem." In Hebrew, the name means "city of Shalom," "city of peace". He keeps gazing, absorbed by the sight. And then, He begins to weep.

To weep! The original word Luke uses means to "sob", or to "wail." It does not merely mean that tears forced themselves up from within; rather, it means the heaving of the chest, and the sob and cry of a soul in agony.

Jesus sees the city – and He weeps. He sobs. For He knows that, in rejecting Him as He knew would happen five days later the city will now be left to accept the consequences.

It’s not that God would now do something to the city n retaliation. It’s just that rejection of God’s visitation automatically leads to suffering. If we jump out of an airplane without a parachute, we will suffer. If we don’t eat, we will suffer. If we refuse to breathe oxygen, we will suffocate. If we reject the living God who comes to us in Jesus Christ, we will experience the alternative.

God is fair. He honors our choices and He permits us the consequences of those choices! To open our hearts to His visitation means salvation – both here and beyond the grave. To close our hearts to his visitation means death — here in that we will continue to live apart from the source of life, and then beyond the grave in an eternal separation from God.

The King weeps. How many in the crowd see Him we do not know. But what a contrast: Joyful shouts from the people, and the sobbing Jesus.

And in this there is a triumph of purpose. Jesus knows what He has to do.

He didn’t come to be the King of the Jews. He came to be the Messiah, the Sent One, the Deliverer, who would be wounded for our transgressions – who would be bruised for our iniquities. He didn’t come to stop at the king’s palace. That’s where the crowd wanted Him to go. They wanted Him to take Herod’s place. Instead He went to the cross.

For Jesus knows who He is — and what we need.

Palm Sunday 2002 can mark a triumph in your life. Do you know who you are? Because of Jesus Christ, you can.

If someone asks you who you are, what is your answer? Do you give you name? That’s simply a label. Do you tell what you do? That’s your vocation. Do you mention your denomination? That only associates you with a particular group. Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem for the specific purpose of helping you come to self-awareness. He tells you who you are. You are a very special person, created by God, designed to live a full, meaningful life.

You are also a sinner in need of a Savior. That’s also who you are. No matter how exalted your position in life may be, no matter how many plaques and diplomas hang on your wall, if you have not received Jesus Christ, you’re simply a sinner in need of a Savior. And if you’ve opened your life to Jesus, you are now a sinner saved by grace who can now live in the way you were meant to live. That’s the most basic statement you can make describing who you are. If you don’t know this, you need to come to a triumph of self-awareness.

His purpose is for you. For me. Palm Sunday – that day of triumph – so different from any triumph you and I would celebrate. The crowd had its version while Christ had His. Thanks be to God, His won out. The die is cast. Those crucial days have begun. Thanks be to God who gives us the ultimate triumph in Jesus Christ, His own Son.