This Sunday is classically known as Palm Sunday. I like better the term triumphal entry. This is the first day of Passion Week. As I see, in my study of scripture, what makes this Sunday significant is the clash of the kingdoms that is dramatically played out over the next seven days.
One could argue that this coming week is the most paradigm shifting in all of world history.
That may seem a bit of an overreach but let’s consider some historical facts. It is during this week, beginning on Sunday, that Jesus officially announces that He is the King and Messiah of the Jews. It is in this week that Jesus cleanses the temple for the second time. It is during Passion week that Jesus confronts all the key Jewish and Roman leaders in Israel. It is within these seven days that Jesus prophesies His death and fulfills the prophesy. It is on Sunday, the seventh day, that Jesus rises from the dead. Dramatic and history changing stuff!
The Lead Up to a Clash
The only message Jesus preached was the Kingdom of God. He spoke over one hundred times on the Kingdom of God. Matthew’s account is astounding in the stark realism of Jesus’ constant emphasis on the Kingdom of God. Leading up to Palm Sunday, consider the following:
- Matthew 4:17: Jesus opened His public ministry preaching the Kingdom of God.
- Matthew 5, 6, and 7: Jesus greatest sermon was on the ethics and culture of the Kingdom of God.
- Matthew 6:10: Jesus taught us to pray “Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
- Matthew 6:33: Jesus instructed us to make it our highest priority to seek the Kingdom of God.
- Matthew 9:35-38: Jesus is preaching the Kingdom of God, healing the sick, and casting out demons in every town and city He enters.
- Matthew 10:5-8: Jesus makes it clear that He is training and raising up other disciples to do what He does.
- Matthew 13: The “secrets of the Kingdom” are for those who seek for it.
- Matthew 16:18-20: Jesus proclaims that He is building a Church that will possess the “keys of the Kingdom of God.”
Now, after three and a half years, He is ready to announce His kingdom and His kingship to all of Israel. The triumphal entry is Jesus publicly announcing to the nation of Israel that He is the Messiah.
Jesus goes viral.
Before entering Jerusalem on this fateful Passover, Jesus had continually said to keep quiet concerning His miracles. But now He wants everything to go viral. He is intentionally confronting the leadership of the temple and the crowd.
Beginning with Palm Sunday, Jesus and His Kingdom will clash with the religious kingdom, the religious system of his day.
Jesus and His Kingdom of God message will clash with the political kingdom of His day. What better time for the political military Messiah to reveal Himself than the Passover, which more than any other feast represented the freedom of Israel from Egyptian bondage. How perfect for a Messiah to show Himself and bring freedom from Roman rule.
When the crowds later would realize that Jesus was not going to be a military and political leader, they would quickly turn on Him. In just a few days, their cries of “Hosanna” would change to “Crucify him.”
Four contrasts of the Kingdom of God and the political kingdom:
- Instead of riding on a prancing white stead in royal robes, Jesus enters on a lowly donkey, wearing the clothes of the poor and humble.
- Instead of military political might conquering by force, Jesus comes as a humble King, conquering through love and grace.
- Instead of militarily conquering nations, Jesus comes to conquer the hearts of people.
- Instead of a temporal peace built on treaties, Jesus brings an everlasting peace built on the cross and resurrection.
Jesus enters the temple.
The first thing Jesus does is enter the temple and overturn the tables of the money changers. Jesus is picking a fight with the religious leaders in Jerusalem. This is bold and courageous! No one picks a fight with the Jewish religious leaders without there being repercussions. Jesus will pay with His life. He wants to upset the religious apple cart.
Four differences between religion and Jesus:
- Religion emphasizes the outward, but Jesus emphasized the inward.
- Religion is about what you can’t do, Jesus was about what you can do.
- Religion puts up barriers and Jesus tore down barriers.
- Religion makes you work your way to God; But Jesus said “I am the way to God.”
We are quick to point fingers at our political leaders, and justly so I might add. We are quick to point fingers at Hollywood and culture, and justly so. But when we see a nation, like America, gone astray, our model is Jesus on Palm Sunday. He points His finger at His own people, the Church.
It is His Church that we are instructed to look at in 1 Chronicles 7:14, “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
If we as God’s people would humble ourselves, pray, seek His face, and repent, God would come in Kingdom power and heal our land!
What about you?
You are a “temple of the Holy Spirit.” Are you a bridge or a barrier to others coming to Christ? Are you a steppingstone or a stumbling block?
This is the second time Jesus cleansed the temple. But over time, the same money changers, the same tables got set up again. Do you need a fresh cleaning of your temple?
Maybe your life is a mess right now! You’ve tried to clean it up. How about giving your heart and life to Jesus? Fully surrender to Him and let Him fully cleanse your temple.
Pastor Steve
