PALM SUNDAY: The King Is Here

Pastor Steven Osborne
Transcribed by PulpitAI (with edits)

For most of the week, just as I was preparing for today’s message, the phrase “the King is here” was with me the whole time, and so, just kind of as I was reading the story of the palm story and Jesus entering into Jerusalem, I just kept thinking about that, because it’s a weird tension. There’s an interesting dynamic here as we think about Palm Sunday and even Holy Week, right? Because there’s one end that we celebrate what Jesus has done, and it’s kind of taking us a little bit in the past as we go through the story, but then to also know it’s a different reality for us from our perspective and what we get to worship this morning. And so all I know for us this morning—and the message that I want to try and get across even as we read the story in John—is this: that the King is here this morning. And it is important for us as believers, as children of God, to leave here this morning to, again, have that revelation in our lives that the King is here, that the King is part of our lives, right? And although we celebrate some of those events that happened in the life of Jesus, it is a whole different reality for our lives today.

Context of Palm Sunday

If you have your Bible with you, you can turn with me to John chapter 12, and I will start in verse 9. So John, chapter 12, starting in verse 9.

Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in him.

Then verse 12,

The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,

“Hosanna!”

“Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Blessed is the king of Israel!”

Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:

“Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.”

At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.

Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”

Just to remind you again on kind of the context of this passage: last week we talked about Jesus; he’s in Bethany; it is a small town near Jerusalem, and Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem to die on the cross and some of the events that we will be celebrating this week. And so he’s hanging out with Lazarus, and just before them worshiping and eating together, we had this incredible miracle of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, and people have heard of this event. Obviously, that will be super exciting when you get to experience that miracle, right? I mean, all of us will probably run out if we hear, “Oh, next door somebody died, and suddenly there’s… somebody prayed for them and now they’re alive again.” I mean, super exciting, not things that you hear all the time. And so this did happen in the life of Lazarus, and so now there’s people that’s following Jesus, because there’s a lot of buzz around the name of Jesus, all the things that he has done and all of the miracles, and now, especially, the story of Lazarus.

And so now you have this crowd. Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem, there’s a crowd that’s waiting for him, and we see this picture—and what we celebrate this morning—with the people with palm branches and shouting out “Hosanna,” right, and declaring that he is the King. Now, at least in their minds, they had a different idea of that will look like for Jesus to be the King. They were hoping that Jesus was going to redeem them and set them free from the Roman rule and that they will no longer experience persecution, that they will experience peace, right? And yet Jesus came to give them a whole different peace—not just peace within the government, but to give us personal peace, and even bigger, to give us peace with the Father. Amen? And so this is the context.

And so now Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem. It is wonderful and quite the sight as you walk down from the Mount of Olives on your way to Jerusalem, and there’s a spot there, and you can sit, and traditionally there’s a spot where there’s a church, it’s where Jesus wept, where they think he wept, and as you sit in that area, you have this amazing view of Jerusalem. And so he’s on his way to the cross.

A Grave Misperception

There’s one thing as we think about this crowd this morning, you know, they had a certain perception of who Jesus needs to be in their lives, and there are different expectations that they want from Jesus, and really they missed the whole picture of why he actually came and who he really is. And it is still true in our lives too. It’s amazing how many times our mind can play tricks on us, right? And how much deception we have out in this world and that’s trying to create a false image in our mind. We talk about, sometimes in counseling, about “mind mapping.” It is interesting when you—everything that your eyes take in and your smells and things that you touch, all of that creates an image in your mind, right? And sometimes it is a true image and sometimes it is false. And so at least with this crowd, everything that they’re hearing and seeing and experiencing and kind of being swept up in this moment because they have seen miracles, and here it is, here’s Jesus, he’s on the donkey and coming down and all of the “hosannas,” it’s like, “This day cannot get any better. We will be redeemed, we will be set free and delivered from the Roman rule.” And yet, obviously everything is gonna be turned upside down, and that whole image will be destroyed in their mind. I want to just show you kind of just this funny thing about mind or brain tricks, sometimes the lies that our mind can create in us. So let’s watch this video.

Nothing appears abnormal about this Rubik’s Cube until you realize it is a two-dimensional image. This illusion is created with a distorted perspective of an image that requires to be viewed at a specific vantage point to create the 3D effect. This is the same method used in the very popular 3D sidewalk art.

The Ames Room. The Ames Room illusion creates a cartoonish and very intriguing effect of drastic size differences between people and objects. By tricking your depth perception with an irregular shaped room, the walls, ceiling, and floor align in a way that will appear normal at just the right angle. This causes everything else in the room to appear to warp in size.

Following eyes. Here is a simple but very effective illusion that makes it look like these little guys are watching you. This is done by manipulating the way you see perspective and the brain’s natural ability to pick out faces and patterns. The head is actually concave, and this sets up a contradiction in your brain to make it look like it’s turning to follow you.

Circle illusion. It is easy to assume that these dots are moving in a circular pattern. However, they are not. Each dot is traveling in a straight line while on its own path from one end of the circle to the other. By adding each dot one by one, you can see the illusion come into place.

I’m showing that to show you it is amazing again, just how life and circumstances and today in our world and culture, how news and different things can trick us and deceive us, right? It makes sense then, when we read scripture, that it tells us to walk by faith and not by sight, right? And again, this is what happened with this crowd as they one moment are shouting, “Hosanna, hosanna,” and then thinks they could turn, and they’re probably the same crowd now that is shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Right? And we do a lot of times—maybe not to that extreme in our own lives—the whole thing, “Hosanna, hosanna.” You know, maybe for us, one Sunday morning we go, we feel good, we feel great, and it’s like, “Hosanna, hosanna,” right, and then the next day there’s a snowstorm and maybe a car accident and whatever it might be, and then it’s like, “Crucify him! Crucify him! Where is Jesus?” Right? And our hearts, we’re so affected by our emotions and our faith so many times are steered by all of these externals, and for us as believers to say, “Hey, I cannot be motivated by my feelings. I cannot be motivated just by the externals that I see, but it goes back to what I actually believe in God’s Word—that he is the King.” Even when it looks so dark, when we’re going through all kinds of trials and difficulties, he is the King. He’s the King, right? And it makes sense, and it’s exciting and easy for us this morning to say, “Yeah, it is true.” But a lot of times when we’re facing those hard things in our lives, we don’t live like we actually believe that he is the King and that he is ruling.

And hold on to this—you know it’s an election year and all of the crazy stuff that is already happening in our world, right? It already can feel a little freaky what is happening. And for us to be on a place to say, “Man, I feel anxious. I feel nervous about my future, about my kids, about my country,” and all of these things. And yet in those moments, even for us to be on that place to say, “He is King. He’s King.” He sits at the throne, and he is, you know, putting things together. It’s not like God is losing control of everything.

Praise the Lord, Jesus had a bigger picture of the path to the road to the cross, right, and that he didn’t get distracted with all of the “hosannas,” like, “Yeah, you know what, I like this. Maybe I’ll just be the King for these people.” How easily, you know, that probably could have happened, right? We might have fallen into that temptation as well.

Fulfillment of Prophecies

So this morning, just some quick reflections on this passage this morning, as we think about Palm Sunday too, and then I want to look at what does it mean for Jesus to be King in our lives?

Kind of the first thing, just looking at this passage this morning, we are reminded of the fulfillment of prophecies. It is wonderful—I’m always amazed when I read all of these Old Testament prophecies and you see how specific they are and how they all have been fulfilled in the life of Jesus. So just to give you an example of one, Zechariah 9:9. So this is probably about 500 years before the life of Jesus. And it says,

Rejoice, O people of Zion! Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey—riding on a donkey’s colt.

What a specific prophetic word for 500 years before that actual moment, right? For most believers, or for the Jewish people at least in that moment, that should have been a wakeup call and say, “Hey, hey, this might be the moment that Zechariah is prophesying about right now. Look at what is happening!” And I’m sharing that this morning to you to say, hey, we have a lot of prophecies that have been fulfilled in the past.

I also believe that we’re in a time now where we’re starting to see other prophetic words coming into fulfillment. And I know that there’s different End Time views on different things. There are some who say, “Hey, everything has been fulfilled,” right, but I believe, especially when we look at Ezekiel 40, when we look at Revelations, we see some of these things, I think, that are being fulfilled right now. I have never in my lifetime—or at least since I’ve been able to read and understand things a little better—have I seen, what it seems like online, so much conversation and excitement about all of the things that is happening. When you think about what is happening in Israel, when you maybe—I know a lot of people are excited about the… what’s the thing happening in April? Sun… what’s that? The eclipse, thank you. With the eclipse happening and some of the symbolism behind that, all I can say as we look at this world, there’s a lot of movement and pieces that seems like it is falling into place. And we know, as God has been faithful in the past for all of those prophetic words to be fulfilled, guess what? Every prophetic word about the return of Jesus Christ will be fulfilled as well. At some point he is gonna meet again with his bride. He’s coming back for us, amen? Which is super exciting, and we got to live with that excitement. It’s like, we don’t know how long he’s gonna wait before everything comes in place. It can happen tomorrow. You know, even when you look at some of the conversations, just—I’ve been watching a little bit on the excitement about the third temple that they’re talking about in Jerusalem—I don’t know if any of you have been tracking some of that—and even the conversation when you look at some of the terrorist groups and the leaders that have spoken at that hundred day mark of what happened in Israel, they have mentioned that part of the attacks that happened in Israel is because of what is happening on the Temple Mount and because of all of the conversation that is happening about building this third temple. And so at least in our minds, right, we have a picture—and again, the news is trying to create a picture for us on why all of that is happening—but we have to be reminded that God is doing, and there’s some bigger pieces that needs to fall into place for the coming of the Messiah. And Satan will do everything in his might and in his power to stop that moment. Right? And that’s why you’re gonna see—and I think we will continue to see some pretty crazy things in our world and in our lives, right, because Satan is at work. But guess what? God is at work as well, and certain things need to fall into place for the return of Jesus Christ. And so we shouldn’t panic, and we just know, as we look at these things, as we reflect on all of the events this week during Holy Week, it should cause excitement in us to see how God’s plan came into fulfillment and to say, “God, you are still in control. You are still King and you still reign; I am not gonna be discouraged. I’m not gonna give up hope. You are King of my life.”

Spiritual Awakening

Number two, just kind of as we look at this passage: a need for spiritual awakening. I don’t know if you can agree with me, but we live in such a time where we are in desperate need of a spiritual awakening.

Friday night I was so excited, we had about 120 young people in the sanctuary. Thank you to Christo and the volunteers. There was young people from the Covenant churches all over the Twin Ports, and they were worshiping, and we had some baptism, and it was just beautiful. And I was also saying thank you that I don’t have to stay all night for the lock-in, right? But I came to support Hailey and as they were leading worship, and we left about just after 1 AM, and it was like, but I was sitting there and I was like, just praying for our kids. I said, “Lord, stir up an awakening in their lives; raise up that generation.”

Because again, when we think about just what was happening in that moment, that there were so many people—and still there’s some Jews today in Israel, when you are walking in the Holy Land, it is spiritually dead, right? At least their faith. I mean, there’s a lot of religious stuff that is going on, but it’s about religion, and it’s not about Jesus, right? And it’s holding on to all of these traditions. And in the same way today, just as those Pharisees and those people needed the spiritual awakening, so in our own lives, we need a spiritual awakening in our lives as well. And God is willing to give that. He died on the cross so that you and I can experience that spiritual awakening in our lives.

Anticipation of His Return

And then anticipation of his return. He is coming. Are we still hungry? Are we still excited? Again, we can fall trapped into just thinking, “Oh, I’m looking forward to retirement.” Some of us are more excited about our retirement here. I’m way more excited about my retirement up in heaven. That’s gonna be way cheaper and better. Right? And so, yes, we’re excited with what God is doing here and that the Lord has placed us on here, but we should not lose that excitement for the second coming of Jesus, and also then to pray. I mean, we have a role to play in praying, because there are so many people that are lost, right? And it’s only because of God’s grace that I believe that he’s not returning. Because we can only—maybe we can’t even imagine how many people will be lost if Jesus returns now that doesn’t know Him yet. And so we have a big role, and part of that is just to pray. But have that excitement. I think we should be on that place where we just wake up in the morning and say, “Lord, is this it? Is this it? Is this the day that you’re coming?” And not to be scared, not to be fearful of his return, but he is gonna return.

The King Is Here

So this morning just want to remind you that the King is here. And what does that mean for us this morning? How do we live in that reality? Well, first of all, that reality for us this morning is this: we have victory over sin and death. Victory over sin and death. I am so grateful that my sin isn’t keeping me away from a relationship with Jesus Christ anymore, but because of what he has done on that cross for us and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, man, we have victory. We have victory over our sin and over death. Yes, at some point, you know, if we die before Jesus returns, right, yeah, our life just ends here on this earth, but life will continue. Right? We will spend eternity with Jesus and with the Father, and we are excited about that.

Number two is just peace. And John 14:27 says,

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Just as that crowd with Jesus were looking for peace, so desperate for peace in their world, right, and Jesus came and said, “Hey, I need to die because I want to give you personal peace. I want to give you peace with the Father.” In the same way for us, he is King, he is reigning this morning, and you and I can experience and have that peace in our lives, right? And where we don’t get fooled with all of the lies and deception where Satan comes and steal our peace and our joy, and we think, “Oh, well God isn’t seeing this.” No, he reigns. He is in control. And somehow we just kind of have to get a biblical perspective again in our lives and say, “Hey, I am not gonna be intimidated by this moment. I am not gonna be fearful. I have no need to be fearful because God is King, and he is King of my life.” Amen?

And then, lastly, we have heavenly citizenship. Philippians chapter 3 says,

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is not our home. We’re waiting for a better place, but in the meantime we live this thing out, and we stay hopeful. We shine the light of Jesus Christ, right? We continue to sing the “hosannas,” and we don’t go from “Hosanna” to “Crucify him.” We stay faithful. This is the moment where the world is looking at all of the craziness and they’re looking at God’s people and the church and to say, “Well, are they actually believing and are they actually living out what they’re listening to every Sunday morning, or are they just as freaked out and scared as the rest of this world?” And it’s like, no.

And so this morning, as we leave, we’re going to say he is King. Yes, we celebrate the events of the past, but guess what? We have a whole ‘nother perspective. He is King. He is reigning in our lives. And this morning, if he’s not reigning in your life, I want to encourage you to make that commitment this morning, because what I’ve already shared, I really believe that our time is getting short on this earth. I believe it. And at some point Jesus is returning for the bride, and we don’t want to wait until the last minute. Today is our moment to give our lives to Christ. When we say that he is our King, that means that we actually give him our lives, that he is the ruler of our lives, that we can’t just live for ourselves and make our own decisions, that we come to Him and we seek him to rule and reign in our lives.