Palm Sunday

Today we celebrate Palm Sunday. I hope you'll tune in next week for Easter. The week after Easter, I'll resume my series on 10 things every Christian should know.

It was Passover in Jerusalem. You likely remember the story from Exodus of the death angel passing over the homes whose doorposts were covered with the blood of a lamb. It was a yearly festival of the Jewish people; it still is. Jerusalem would be flooded with visitors for the celebration. That's the setting for the first Palm Sunday.

Before we read about that first Palm Sunday, I'm going to go back a couple of years. A year or two before the first Palm Sunday, John tells us that Jesus came to town for a Jewish festival. It was likely Passover. We pick up the story in John chapter 5.

"Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. Crowds of sick people, blind, lame, or paralyzed, lay on the porches. One of the men lying there had been sick for 38 years. When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, 'Would you like to get well?' 'I can't, sir,' the man said, 'for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.' Jesus told him, 'Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk.' Instantly the man was healed. He rolled up his sleeping mat and he began walking."

This is a sad, interesting picture: scores of hurting people hoping for a miracle, all gathered around the pool. The rumor was that an angel would come and stir the water; the first one in would be healed. We don't know our friend's name. We know he'd been sick for 38 years. Go back to the spring of 1983 to put that into perspective.

This man, and likely most gathered there at the pool, had to have someone bring them there. Perhaps someone started the rumor to have a place to take them. Can you imagine how disheartened this man would be after 38 years? That's about change, because here comes Jesus, and Jesus comes straight to him with a question: "Would you like to get well?" Of course he wanted to.

Jesus healed him right there on the spot. I bet he healed many that day. It's a pattern in the Gospels: there's a problem, Jesus shows up, problem solved.

Now to the first Palm Sunday. There were likely two million people in Jerusalem for the Passover festival, and here comes Jesus. His popularity had grown; he'd done so many miracles. I wonder if the man that he healed at the pool was there that day.

Matthew tells us the story of that first Palm Sunday. It's in chapter 21. "When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethpage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, 'Go to the village ahead of you, and immediately you'll find a donkey tied, and a cult with her. Untie them, bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, just say, "The Lord needs them," and he'll send them immediately.' This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophets, saying, 'Tell the daughter of Zion, look, your king is coming to you, humbled, and mounted on a donkey, and on a cult, the foal of a donkey.'"

That's written in the book of Zechariah 500 years before this incident. Back to verse 6. "The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed him. They brought the donkey and the cult, put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went ahead of him and followed were shouting, 'Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!'"

The people shouted the word hosanna. It means "save us now." It's a plea for help. If our friend from earlier, who we met in John 5, was there, he would have told everyone that Jesus could help indeed. Can't you see in him going from group to group, saying, "I was sick for 38 years and I could barely move, and one day Jesus came to the pool," and he had quite the story.

That day so long ago, many of the people wanted Jesus to save them from the government. Others wanted a free meal. It's likely most of them wanted an earthly savior, not a spiritual one. But that day it was quite a parade.

Life is a parade, isn't it? You stand there and there's no telling what's coming next. 2020 taught us that, didn't it? Sometimes the parade is good and sometimes not so good. But I want you to remember this: no matter where you are in life, when Jesus shows up, everything changes.

I've seen Jesus change so many. I've known thieves that have become givers. I've known adulterers who've become faithful. I've known addicts who became free.

Palm Sunday puts into motion the toughest week in the life of Jesus. He was arrested, tried, spat upon, whipped, mocked, and then crucified on a cross. And he did all of that willingly. He did it because he loves us.

This week, I pray that you take time to thank Jesus for such love. This week, I pray that you let Jesus heal those areas in your life that need healing. That's why he came.

Let's pray together. Lord Jesus, thank you for that day when you went to Jerusalem knowing what awaited you. You went to because of love. Father, next week we will celebrate the resurrection. And Father, thank you for loving us so much that you died for us, and you live for us today. Bless us as we anticipate that wonderful day of Easter, right around the corner. In Jesus' name, amen.

God bless.