Palm Sunday

Happy Sunday! Easter is just a week away, and today we celebrate Palm Sunday. We're told that Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem as the crowds cheered and cried, "Hosanna." It's likely that there were over 2 million people in town that day. Military leaders and kings would ride great white horses as they entered town; Jesus was on a borrowed donkey.

The word hosanna that the crowd cheered means "save us now." They hoped that Jesus had come to overthrow the Romans and bring about change. They wanted a new king. Jesus came to die. The crowd was focused on the immediate, on this world; Jesus was focused on eternity.

Do you remember where Jesus was before Palm Sunday? Let me read to you from John chapter 12. "Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with Jesus. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus's feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

"But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, the one who was about to betray him, said, 'Why was his perfume not sold for 300 to narai and the money given to the poor?'" John told us that Judah said this "not because he cared about the floor, the poor, but because he was a thief. He kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it. Jesus said, 'Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You'll always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.'

"When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priest planned to put Lazarus to death as well as Jesus, since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus. The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem."

I find it interesting that right before Palm Sunday Jesus was at the home of Lazarus and Mary and Martha. I'm sure that it was comforting to Jesus to see someone that had been brought back from the grave. Martha served, of course. Lazarus sat with Jesus. And Mary, Mary did the strangest thing. She took 12 ounces of a very expensive perfume.

How expensive? About a year's salary. It was extremely expensive. Mary took that perfume and she poured it on Jesus's feet, and then she wiped his feet with her hair. Now, foot washing was a common thing to do, but not with this perfume. Maybe a drop, but not the whole bottle.

This was over the top. Letting her hair down was totally unacceptable for a Jewish woman to do in the presence of men. It was scandalous. Mary's gesture was costly and scandalous and surprising, and I love it. Her love was lavish.

We're still talking about it today. This was unimaginable devotion. Mary loved Jesus with all she had. John tells us that Judas was upset. Judah said that the money should have been given to the poor.

John tells us clearly that that was a lie. Judas wanted the money for himself because he was a thief. How does a thief become in charge of the money? Well, by being a really good hypocrite. Jesus was about to give his life, Mary gave her most valuable possession, and Judas wanted to take more money.

In this story we go from one extreme to another. We see Mary's unselfish love, and we see Judas's extreme selfishness. Judas thought that Jesus was his ticket to the big time. Judas wanted Jesus to be an earthly ruler, like the crowd that Palm Sunday. He hoped for a king to replace the Rome and save us now.

Both Judas and Mary saw Jesus on a regular basis. They were both there when they saw Lazarus come out of the grave. After knowing so much about Jesus, Mary gave all that she could give, and Judas took all that he could take. That struck me as I read this account from John 12.

As Jesus entered Jerusalem on that Palm Sunday, the crowd was composed of all sorts of people: some like Mary, some like Judas, and some in between. Two thousand years later, this old world is much the same. Some like Mary, some are like Judas, and some are in between. Who do you identify with?

In the next week, see what you can give for Jesus. Make a call, send a note, help someone in the name of Jesus. I look forward to next Sunday, Easter. I hope you will join me next week. God bless.