Jesus’ Grand Entrance

Text: Luke 19:28-40
Service Date: 4.13.25
Sermon:

• As we continue in the Lenten season, we are here to reflect on the importance of Jesus’ grand entrance into Jerusalem. First, let us paint the scene:
• Jerusalem is the geographical and hermeneutical center of Luke’s Gospel.
• People lined the road, praising God, waving palm branches, and throwing their cloaks in front of the colt as it passed before them.
• As the Pharisees watch the parade made up by people putting down cloaks along the road on which Jesus will ride his colt, they are afraid of what this will bring.
• This acclamation makes the Pharisees very nervous. Some Pharisees had warned Jesus in Luke 13:31 that Herod wanted to kill him and had advised Jesus to lay low. Now again some Pharisees implore Jesus to order his disciples to stop their subversive chant.
• The donkey, a symbol of humility and peace, contrasts with the typical image of a conquering king on a warhorse, further emphasizing Jesus's unique kingship.
• By this time, Jesus was extremely well-known. Everyone coming to Jerusalem for the Passover festival had heard of him, and for a time, the popular mood was favorable toward him.
• Jesus’ “going up” to Jerusalem is a public event, interpreted by Luke as a royal entry. Declaring yourself a king while you’re under Roman occupation is a dangerous threat to the quasi-peace and authority that the pharisaical regime has established with the Empire.
• This is to announce that he was indeed the Messiah, Jesus chooses a time when all Isreal would be gathered at Jerusalem, a place where huge crowds could see him, and a way of proclaiming his mission that was unmistakable.  
• The people who were praising God for giving them a king had the wrong idea about Jesus. It seems that they expected him to be a national leader who would restore their nation to its former glory; thus, they were deaf to the words of their prophets and blind to Jesus’ real mission.  When the people began to realize that Jesus was not going to fulfill the hopes they’d held, some turned against him.
• Palm/Passion Sunday places preachers in a bit of a dilemma in terms of how to focus our preaching. Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem is royal, triumphant, but we know how the people will turn against Jesus, even if the whole passion story is not read this Sunday. We know that many in the crowds who hail Jesus as king on this Sunday will be crying out for his crucifixion by Friday. Perhaps they expected a mighty warrior-king who would drive out the Romans. Seeing Jesus held by Roman soldiers, weak and vulnerable, they will decide that he is not the king they want after all. In fact, supporting him could be downright dangerous.
• The question is: how do we see Jesus in this moment? Is he a national leader who would restore our nation to its former glory? Or is he caring, loving and compassion leader who loves all and restores our world to God and to ourselves? Is he a mighty king who would drive out the Romans? Or is he the man who was willing to be weak and vulnerable to expose the corruption in the political and religious world and bring in the outcasts to a place where they are accepted and where they belong?    

 
Conclusion: Let us be people who see and live out Jesus’ true mission.