The Story of Palm Sunday

So let me rehearse for us again the story of Palm Sunday. The excitement was at a high pitch in Jerusalem, the way it was every year at Passover. People had come from all over Israel, and probably from some other nations bordering the Mediterranean Sea.

In the midst of this celebratory anticipation of Passover which was just a few days away, the crowd hears that Jesus is coming. They have a sense of what it means, and as Jesus is entering the holy city, a cheer begins to go up all through the crowd.

“Hosanna! Blessed is the king of Israel that, cometh in the name of the Lord,” (John 12:13).

The King is coming. Save us, King. Hosanna means "save now."

The crowd is so enthusiastic men start taking off their outer cloaks, and laying them down on the road for the donkey carrying Jesus to walk on, other people pulled branches off of Palm trees and did the same thing with them.

The whole city of Jerusalem was moved. “Who is this?” To paraphrase: Who is this who has gotten the whole city in an uproar? “This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.” (Matthew 21:11 [4-11]).

It seems like this large crowd of Israelites understood what was happening, that Jesus was indicating by the donkey ride that he was king (Zechariah 9:9). They think, I think, "Jesus is not just a prophet. Blessed is the king of Israel. Jesus is king. Hosanna!" Let me add hallelujah, praise the Lord. Jesus is King.

That was the day of recognition. By Friday the same ones who had recognized him as king rejected him. And, do you know what the king did? There in their now He died for their sins. They asked him to save now, and he died. He died to save them then, and us now.