1. Please pray with me. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock, and our Redeemer. Amen. The message from God’s Word on this Palm Sunday is taken from John 12:12-19, and is entitled, “The Lord Comes in Humility,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. As we gather for Palm Sunday, John invites us to simply experience the wonder of Jesus, the Lord of all, who does His work in humility. I have participated in many different Palm Sunday processions. I’ve been at churches where we gathered in the parking lot. Palms were distributed and blessed and then the crucifer led us around the property and up to the doors of the church. There, the crucifer lifted the processional cross like a javelin and pounded the bottom of the cross on the middle of the doors, calling for the gates to be opened that the king might come in. As the doors were opened, we processed into the church, singing, and waving our palms.
3. I have been at churches where the children bring all the excitement. The congregation is gathered in the church singing, “All Glory Laud and Honor,” and then the children come down the aisle. They are waving their palms as they gather at the front of the church. When the account of Jesus’ entry is read from John, the children burst into singing, “Hosanna,” as they wave their palms.
4. Different churches have different entrance rites on Palm Sunday. But, with most of them I have felt a strained desire to take us back to the time of Jesus, to ask us to stand with the crowds and somehow recapture the moment, to help us experience the entry into Jerusalem, as if we were there.
5. This is why I appreciate John’s account of the entry into Jerusalem. Notice how John differs from the other gospel writers. In all the other gospels, the evangelists record the event as it unfolds. There is the direction of Jesus to bring the colt, the response of the disciples, the record of prophecy fulfilled, the actions of the people, and the response of the rulers. Only in John do we find this account punctuated by a moment of recollection. After the prophecy is reported, John writes in chapter 12:16, “His disciples did not understand these things at first, but, when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about Him and had been done to Him” (12:16).
6. John does not ask us to step into the moment and to experience it. No, John actually asks us to step out of the moment and to reflect on it. For John, the entry into Jerusalem isn’t something we need to enter into. Instead, it is something we reflect on. Why? Because John knows that, after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, things look different. After we have seen Jesus bear the burden of our punishment for our sins, after we have watched Jesus offer His life for our salvation, after we have witnessed His resurrection from the dead, and after we see He now rules over all things... after all that, this moment in His ministry takes on deeper meaning.
7. In our world, people expect God to do great things. If you can heal the sick or predict the future or bring health, wealth, and happiness, you can gather a crowd and make claims about God. But, if you are a small church, struggling to keep the doors open... if you are an aging church ethnically undiversified... if you are a poor church renting out your building to survive... people wonder about you. “How dare you speak for God?” “Wouldn’t God be present with more fanfare?” “Wouldn’t his work be more obvious?” But, Jesus chooses to come among His people in humble ways, in bread and wine in the Lord’s Supper, in plain water all connected with God’s Word. Today, we remember that reality: When Jesus approached His greatest work, He did it without fanfare.
8. In our reading, John has brought us to the edge of the Passion, the hour of glory, and yet it is strangely anticlimactic. Jesus isn’t part of a royal procession. He comes to sinners unarmed. Only in recollection do the disciples realize what has happened. John tells us they, “...remembered that these things had been written about Him.” That is, they remembered God had promised to come into His Kingdom, not riding on a horse in military power but riding on a colt in divine humility. Years later, as they reflected on this moment, they began to glimpse the wonder of Jesus, a wonder He had then and a wonder He retains now. As Jesus goes about His work in the world, He does so through the way of humility.
9. This is important because just as in our day people expect God to do great things, so in Jesus’ day it was the same thing. Consider this. Here in John 12 throngs of eager crowds arrive to meet Jesus, palm branches in hand, hailing Him with a song, quoted from Psalm 118: “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel” (v. 13)! That the crowds wave palms while they sing is no small thing. The Jews had celebrated with palms centuries earlier after the Jewish commander Judas Maccabaeus crushed the Greek tyrant Antiochus IV Epiphanes in the rebellion of 164 BC, sealing their Jewish independence. And now, palm branches appear again. Their symbolism is thick: even as Simon Maccabaeus crushed the Greeks, Jesus will soon crush the Romans. At least, that is the hope of the crowd. And so, they break out the palms. Along with the palms, their quoting of Psalm 118 also betrays an attitude of nationalism. They use this psalm as a battle cry.
10. The word Hosanna is Hebrew for “save now!” Their request of Jesus, then, is for Him to save them now from their oppressive Roman rulers. But even as they quote the psalmist’s words, they misunderstand the psalmist’s intent. Psalm 118 isn’t about conquering Rome in order to achieve salvation. Rather, it’s about Divine love so great that it moves people to receive salvation. The psalmist opens and closes his song: “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever” (Psalm 118:1, 29). It’s God’s steadfast love, not a people’s nationalistic pride, which effects salvation. This is why Palm Sunday introduces Good Friday. It is at that cross that our salvation is won.
11. Here in John 12, we see the reaction of the crowds to Jesus’ procession into Jerusalem and the very purpose for his coming are misunderstood (v 16). The crowds misunderstand Christ’s mission; they expect him to be a military leader. The disciples misunderstand Christ’s mission; they expect him to be an earthly ruler. And we misunderstand Christ’s mission; we want Jesus to serve our own sinful self-determined needs and wants.
12. But, Jesus’ procession into Jerusalem leads to his ultimate glorification—his death on the cross (v 16). Jesus’ ultimate glory didn’t occur on Palm Sunday, but on Good Friday. Jesus identifies his glory with his death (Jn 12:23–33). This glorification through suffering is a paradox that the world can’t understand, but it’s revealed to us by the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ death is his most glorious moment because it is the accomplishment of his mission to redeem sinners. Jesus’ death and resurrection fulfill God’s plan of salvation, revealed in the Old Testament Scriptures, John 12:16 says, “That these things had been written about him.” God’s plan of salvation is that his Son bears the curse of sin so that sinners are forgiven. Because of Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection, you are reconciled to God (Jn 12:32; 2 Cor 5:19–20). We now glorify the Crucified One as our ultimate King. Here in John 12, we see the disciples recognized Christ’s true glory after his death and resurrection (v 16). We affirm Jesus to be our King who was glorified in his suffering and death.
13. Today, as we gather for Palm Sunday, John invites us to join the disciples in faithful reflection. We don’t necessarily need to have a procession with palms. We do not need to enter the excitement of the crowds. We do not need to replay the children singing His praises or the tension of religious leaders despising the celebration. No, we are invited to simply experience the wonder of Jesus, the Lord of all, who does His work in humility.
14. Today, you may hear the Word preached by a preacher who mumbles, I’ve been known to do that at times. Today, you may find your church is just a faint shadow of its former self in days of glory... but... take heart. Rejoice. Sing. Praise. Why? Because the Lord comes to you in humility. Jesus comes today to bring you salvation, but He chooses to be here in humble ways. In John’s gospel, Jesus approaches His greatest work without fanfare. In our lives, God comes in ways which are humble and quiet.
15. Today, on Palm Sunday, we do not need to create a “were you there” experience. Why? Because God is already here: In words that are spoken announcing to you that your sins are forgiven, in bread that is broken for you and your salvation. Today, John encourages us to join the disciples, not in the mesmerizing mess that is the entry into Jerusalem, but in the clearer contemplation that follows. John encourages us to remember how God comes to us. God is here, in the humblest of ways through His means of grace. Amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus until life everlasting. Amen.
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