Palm Sunday - Hopes & Expectations

"The crowd 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!"

[Matthew 21:9]

Palm Sunday begins with triumph, but by Friday ends with tragedy. Events can change so quickly and we see that during Holy Week through the lens of the Gospels.

Each year we read the exact same readings of Holy Week, but we don't read them in the same way.

Why?

Because although Scripture doesn't change, we, ourselves do change. Since last year's Holy Week, we have had a full year of growth and change; new joys and sorrows. So there may be a familiar piece of scripture that we read differently, or we gain a new insight into Jesus' life that resonates with our own lives.

For me, this year I notice how quickly events change from one extreme to another; from Palm Sunday, where there was a crowd celebrating Jesus as the Messiah, to Good Friday, where a crowd was shouting "Crucify Him!". The striking change of the city's heart causes some perplexity.

Can such a change really happen so quickly?

Can people be this fickle in just a few days?

It's good to remember that not everyone at the Triumphal Entry were celebrating the LORD. The crowd that came with Him were pilgrims coming to the city for Passover. Because of the news about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, and hopes that the Messianic Kingdom would soon begin, these pilgrims took to shouting and praising in their enthusiasm. (Matthew 21:9)

But, on the other hand the people in the city of Jerusalem were scratching their heads and asking:

"Who is this? " (Matthew 21:10)

Among these people were the Pharisees who urged Jesus to rein in the crowd.

So, between these two opposing currents, Jesus rode into town.

John Ensor in his work "The Crowd Was Not Fickle" argues that the crowd in Matthew 27:20 were not the people of Jerusalem who celebrated Jesus, but the "crowd of fellow elders, priests, scribes and Pharisees that had been gathering and assembling and moving about all night."

Some of the same crowd who shouted "Hosanna" may also have been part of the crowd shouting "Crucify Him!" But we cannot be sure. The point is the quick switch in public opinion, from praising Him to crying out to "Crucify Him."

What we do know is that there was a crowd of loyal followers who remained loyal to Jesus and an explosion of public expectation that Jesus was the Messiah for whom they are longed for centuries. Excitement bubbled over. But, like the disciples, who constantly thought Jesus' kingdom was going to be political, the people of Jerusalem were expecting a bloody uprising. They recognised that there was something special about Jesus. They had seen His miracles and heard Him preach with authority. But they did not fully understand what His kingdom was about. They soon saw that Jesus was not the warrior king they had expected and so their enthusiasm waned.

In many ways Palm Sunday is a bittersweet day. It was sweet because people were singing Jesus' praises but it was bitter because many people would reject Him. It's a day of startling contrast and confusion, it reveals to us the stark conflict of the human heart when actually faced with God.

"Come into our lives" we may cry! Yet a small voice in the corner of our minds say, "But, don't come to us in a way we don't like, don't change us too much!"

Don't we live in a time where people are quick to celebrate when things are good and just as quick to turn when things are not?

We chase comfort, success and recognition but avoid sacrifice, humility and surrender. Jesus did not come to fulfil every expectation we have. He came to save.

 "Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it produces fruit." (John 12:24)

That is hard to hear in a world that tells us to protect ourselves, build for ourselves and live for ourselves. But the truth is, real life, real purpose, real impact comes through surrender.

Palm Sunday challenges us to move to surrendered faith.

It is a reminder that "Hosanna" is not just something we say, it is something we live. It is trusting Jesus, not just in the highs, but in the unknown. It is choosing faith when it does not make sense. It is living for something bigger than ourselves.

This Palm Sunday it is worth asking ourselves:

"Have I made Jesus my King?"

God bless