Understanding Palm Sunday: Who Is Jesus to You?

Today is Palm Sunday. The beginning of what we “celebrate” as holy week. The advent if you will, of the culminating events of Jesus’ earthly ministry. I use “celebrate” in quotes because I’m struck by the dissonance between my idea of a celebration – complete with balloons, cake, and happy festivities vs the stark reality of what I know this coming week holds before we get to next Sunday.

But back in the day, the only person who knew what the week held was Jesus. So, on this day, when Jesus makes his approach into Jerusalem the gospels all record this event as quite the spectacle. Your Bibles likely title this as “The Triumphal Entry” or possibly “Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King.”

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, ² 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,

“Hosannato the Son of David!”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Hosannain 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” (Matthew 21:1-11, NIV).

While Christians knows this as Holy week – punctuated by today, Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday – to our Jewish faith ancestors, and our Jewish friends today, this is Passover. The celebration of God’s deliverance of Israel out of Egypt and their hopeful prayer for their Messiah still to come who will once again deliver Israel from bondage, restore Israel and reconcile them to God.

Knowing it is Passover tells us Jerusalem is already teaming with people who had traveled to the city for the feast.     

Matthew points out three times there are crowds. This was important to him. So maybe, we should stop and spend some time here today.   

Who is this crowd that has gathered? Who are the ones throwing their cloaks down, and cutting the palms from the trees to lay on the street? 

We know that some of this crowd included the close band of disciples that had been traveling and ministering, and learning from Jesus for the past three years. From the gospels we can determine there were at least three other groups of people making up this crowd that went ahead of him and followed him.

1. Matthew tells us in Chapter 19 that when Jesus left Galilee for the last time, he moved on to the region of Judea – across the Jordan river from Jericho – and was followed by large crowds whom he continued to heal in Judea.
2. After Jesus crossed back over the Jordan, Matthew tells us that there was a large crowd who continued to follow Jesus from Jericho (Chapter 20) toward Bethany and ultimately Jerusalem.
3. Then John writes, in Chapter 12, of the crowd who came out from Jerusalem to meet Jesus at Bethany. These were the Jews who lived in Jerusalem and had no doubt heard about Jesus and the miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead.

This eclectic crowd is leading and following Jesus as he approaches Jerusalem – shouting the right phrases– praises, prayers, rooted in the traditional Scripture readings they recited as they progressed through their Passover Hallal.

I mention this because I believe this crowd is not moved to shout the acclamations they shout out of revelation from God. Maybe some do, but I believe most are simply primed for this because it’s Passover. The time when they are most hyped about the possibility of the Messiah and have their traditional prayers and praises foremost in their minds.   

I also don’t believe the crowds are inspired by God in their praises because this same crowd, in less than a week, will be shouting Crucify Him.

How can it be that this crowd could change their opinion in a dime like that?

The answer is in how Matthew closes his account.

“When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred (meaning agitated, bothered, disturbed) and asked, “Who is this?”

The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee” (vs 10-11).

This crowd – who is shouting the Psalms of praise from their Passover scriptures of seeking God’s continued deliverance – says Jesus is a prophet.

He’s not their Christ.

He’s not their Messiah.  

And despite the celebratory welcome they give him, which is akin to welcoming a king, They don’t say he’s their king. They don’t say he’s the fulfillment of the scriptures they’d been shouting.   

He’s a prophet – who a week later hears them shout Crucify him.

Toward the end of Jesus’s ministry is Galilee, He poses a similar question to his disciples.

“Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

¹⁵ “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

In response, Jesus affirms Peter – ¹⁷  “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven” (Matthew 16:13-17, NIV).

Peter didn’t know this because he asked someone and was told who Jesus was. Peter knew this because God had revealed it to him over the course of the time Peter had been a disciple. His understanding of the Messiah had been conformed to Jesus. He’d been listening, learning, and doing, all along transformed by the renewing of his mind.  

God revealed the truth about Jesus to Peter.

Now – for sure, in the coming days Peter has his own crisis of faith as he denies knowing Jesus on that fateful Friday. But he never denied who Jesus was – and I think that’s important because it sets Peter up for his restoration by Jesus.

This crowd, on the other hand, has not had that same revelation from God. They hadn’t spent the time with Jesus, learning from him, letting his teachings transform their thinking. Sure – some of them witnessed his miracles, experienced his healing power, and maybe they were the exceptions in that crowd.

To most, he was simply a well-spoken man. A curiosity. Others thought he was on par with Elijah, Jeremiah, and other prophets. They knew about him. They didn’t know him.

Not truly knowing Jesus meant they were easily caught up in the frenzy of the moment. Swayed by the loudest voices they heard that day.

Jesus was a controversial figure. He’d stepped on many a toe during his ministry as he preached the gospel of grace – of salvation through faith and not through strict adherence of the law. He’d made enemies of the Priests, Pharisees, and Sadducees – the ruling class of the Jewish people. They had rejected his message, rejected him. Their status and power were threatened by him and the gospel message he preached.

As the week progresses, the tension between Jesus and these Jewish leaders escalated. Their fear became a cancer that infected all of Jerusalem. By Friday, the only voices the crowd heard were those of the Jewish leaders shouting how Jesus was a false prophet, shouting that he was a blasphemer for claiming the same status as God.

The crowd was swayed from “Hosanna” to “Crucify Him” because they didn’t know the answer to the question.

Who is this man?

Today is not much different. Jesus is still rejected by many. The Gospel message is still a threat and under attack. Christianity is still spurned. Our world is full of loud angry voices all shouting why we should yell Crucify him right along with them.

Jesus didn’t teach his disciples to be the loud voice. He taught them – and he teaches us – to be the gentle voice. The peace bringer. The only way we can do that is to recognize God’s revelation of Jesus to us by doing what Peter did.  Listening. Learning.  Conforming us to his likeness and transforming our thinking to his thinking so that we are not swayed by the loud voices.  

Our challenge, our lesson from Palm Sunday, is this.

There are going to be crowds at Easter. There always are. Sanctuaries and Worship Centers are more full than usual. People come on this one day who do not come any other time of year. Many will be there because it’s the thing to do. Some will be there out of a sense of obligation or guilt. Families will gather, much like Christmas, setting aside those family differences to gather around the communal table.

Not everyone in our worship center or around our table knows Jesus. They know about him but they are like the people of Jerusalem who are stirred up and asking – Who is this? 

We are in the crowd – How are we going to answer them? 

Who do you say Jesus is?  Is he a prophet?

Or are we prepared to answer like Peter did?  He is the Messiah, the Son of the living God. My Savior. My Lord.