Printer Friendly VersionThrough out the Lenten season we’ve been looking at the
final 24 hours of Jesus life. In His last 24 hours before the crucifixion,
Jesus spent time with His disciples in the upper room. Jesus spent time with
God in the Garden of Gethsemane. It was here that Jesus was arrested and eventually
was brought before the Roman governor, Pilate.
Two weeks ago we looked at some of the questions Pilate asked
of Jesus during their time together and we noted how sad, tragic really, it
was that Pilate could find no fault in Jesus. Pilate knew Him to be innocent,
and yet still had Him beaten and crucified. Sadder still, was that even after
his verdict was given, Pilate still wanted to put the sign on the cross referring
to Jesus as the king. And we said you can’t have it both ways Pilate:
You can’t call Him king and treat Him like a criminal. You can’t
have it both ways.
Last week, we looked at the story of Jesus’ betrayers: Judas and Peter.
We saw how one (Judas) betrayed Jesus and his guilt and regret led him to
suicide. Whereas another betrayer’s (Peter’s) guilt and regret
led him back to Christ.
There’s one aspect of that whole scene that has always
bothered me--I don’t think I’ve ever preached on it--but it has
always bothered me. We talked a little bit about it a couple of weeks ago.
It’s when Pilate took Jesus and Barabbas (remember Barabbas? Murderer
Barabbas) before the people to see which one should be released and the crowd,
as you know, called for Barabbas. How could that be? How could the crowd want
Barabbas?
Have you ever thought about that? You don’t have to be
a Christian to not want a murderer to go free on the streets. My neighbor
is not a Christian, but I am sure if I were to ask him, he would not want
a murderer on the streets. The Bible tells us Barabbas was in jail for “taking
part in an insurrection in Jerusalem against the government, and for murder.”
Would you want a guy like that out on the run, ready to wreak havoc and cause
mayhem? We would probably call Barabbas a terrorist today. Would you want
a known terrorist out on the streets? Especially when your other option is
the One who fed thousands, healed hundreds, and raised at least three people
from the dead. Why in the world would the people choose Barabbas?
Jesus never hurt anybody. Jesus never killed anybody. Jesus
never caused an insurrection. Why would the people choose Barabbas over Jesus?
Has that ever bothered you?
Listen to the story from Luke’s perspective: (read Luke
23:13-25).
What makes this story even more troubling to me, (can it be more troubling?)
is today: Palm Sunday. We’ve been singing: “Hosanna, Hosanna,
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” We get those words
because that’s what the crowd was saying upon Jesus entry into Jerusalem.
That grand entry when He came into Jerusalem riding on a donkey took place
just five days before what we just read from Luke’s Gospel.
You know the story right? On the original Palm Sunday, everybody
was excited. And everyone was shouting and carrying on. Jesus was on top of
the world! And even the enemies of Jesus--even those people that wanted to
nothing with Jesus--noticed. They told Jesus: "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
(They wanted them rebuked for saying things like: “Behold the King.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” Jesus, tell your disciples
to shut up!). I tell you, he replied, "if they kept quiet, the stones
will cry out!” (Luke 19:39-40).
Matthew tells us that “when Jesus entered Jerusalem the
whole city was stirred” (Matthew 21:10). And after seeing this electric
scene the Pharisees concluded: “Look how the whole world has gone after
him” (John 12:19) .
It was party time. “Jesus has arrived!” Everything was good!
There’s a new king in town!” But like Paul Harvey,
we know the rest of the story, don’t we. Just five short days later,
presumably some of the very same people who were shouting “Hosanna”
on Sunday, were shouting “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” on Friday.
Do you have a problem with that? I sure do.
What happened between Sunday’s “Hosannas”
and Friday’s ”Crucify Him”? What happened between Sunday’s
palm branch waving and shouting and celebration and party like atmosphere
and Friday’s mob scene? What happened to the crowd?
How can you want to crown Jesus king on Sunday and not even
a week later, just few days, you want Him dead? “Crucify Him! Crucify
Him!”
I’ve got a theory. To really understand my theory you
need to really understand the Triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem a little
bit better. We need to understand what happened on Palm Sunday. We haven’t
read that so let me read it. Listen to how John describes that first Palm
Sunday: (read John 12:12-19).
Here’s my theory. The people on Sunday, the people who
were shouting, “ Hosanna! Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name
of the Lord!” had heard all the stories. They had heard about all the
miracles Jesus had performed. They heard how just a short time earlier He
had even raised Lazarus from the dead. That was big, big, big, huge, colossal
news. And now He is coming into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey, fulfilling
scripture that the king would be riding on a donkey. And they were shouting
“Hosanna! Blessed is the King of Israel. Hail the king!”
So in minds of the people in the crowd the progression of events
should be: The new king has arrived, so that means the Romans should be kicked
out. Remember the Romans were in charge at the time. And everybody hated the
Romans. They wanted too many taxes. They were mean and cruel. They treated
people like dogs. They were the occupying enemy. Everybody hated the Romans.
The common folks were ready for a new king. They were ready for a little Roman
“beat down.” They were ready for somebody to come in and chase
those Romans back to Rome where they belonged.
In Mark’s account of Palm Sunday, he has the people saying
this: “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David” (Mark
11:10). They were ready for a little “David meets Goliath booty kicking!”
That’s what they were ready for! “Come on you big bad Romans let’s
get it on! There’s a new sheriff in town.” That’s what they
wanted Jesus to say. No, that’s what they expected Jesus to say.
“On top of that, if Jesus could raise Lazarus from the dead--after him
being in the grave for four stinking days (literally)--then maybe, just maybe
He could raise my aunt Millie from the dead. If he could raise somebody from
the dead then maybe just maybe He could fix my gout because that’s been
giving me trouble. And you know my nose has been a little stuffy lately, so
maybe, just maybe He could take care of my congestion problem. I heard about
Him feeding the 5,000 people. Boy, it will sure be nice to go to Jesus and
get a free bread and fish lunch every day. Whew, I’m a little hungry
just thinking about it.”
The folks assumed with the coming of Jesus the Romans would
be out, the lunch would be free, they would never get sick, never have worries,
and never die. Life would be easy street. That’s better than the lottery.
No worries. No death. No troubles. No problems.
But after Jesus came to town on Sunday--“Hosanna, Hosanna,
Hosanna!”--none of those things happen on Monday. And guess what? It
didn’t happen on Tuesday or Wednesday or Thursday either. Nothing much
special happened at all. You know of all those miracles Jesus performed in
the previous three years of ministry, guess how many miracles Jesus performed
between Sunday and Thursday. Do you know how many miracles Jesus performed
after coming into Jerusalem? One. Just one. One measly little miracle.
And it wasn’t all that great of a miracle if I say so
myself. It wasn’t a feeding 5,000 people or changing water into wine
or raising somebody from the dead type of miracle. Out of all the miracles
that Jesus performed His whole life, one could make the case that this particular
miracle was the smallest, cheapest, puniest, tiniest, most needless miracle
He ever performed. Probably most folks didn’t even know He did anything.
What kind of miracle is that?
The one miracle, the only miracle, Jesus performed in the four
days following the Triumphal Entry was cursing a fig tree; it withered up.
That’s it. One dead tree. Big deal. Now granted I couldn’t do
it and neither could you. I couldn’t make a tree whither and die in
a day. I really don’t have a green thumb--it takes me a couple of months
to make a tree whither up and die. But eventually I can do it. You give me
a couple of months I can kill a tree. So Jesus does it overnight: big deal!
A withered up tree? It was just a little lesson for His disciples, that’s
it. That’s all it was. Who cares?!
Come Friday . . . all those people who were shouting, “Hosanna”
were wondering: Hey where’s my free lunch. I thought He fed 5,000 men,
plus women and children? I’m hungry!
Come Friday . . . all those people who were waving their palm
branches were still grieving. Hey, Aunt Millie's still dead. I thought He
could raise the dead! I’m hurting.
Come Friday . . . all those people who laid down their cloaks
as Jesus passed by were still sick. Hey, my gout is still here. I thought
He could make the lame walk! I thought the blind could see after they were
with Jesus? Jesus has been here for nearly a week and there are still a whole
lot of sick people in this town.
Come Friday . . . they were still getting tossed around by the hated Romans.
Hey the Romans are still in charge. They are still bossing us around; they
are still thinking they are the big shots.
Come Friday . . . they were looking for the “new King.” Hey, I
thought this guy would bring back the reign of King David. He’s no David.
I heard about David. And this guy couldn’t beat Goliath, could not beat
anybody from my perspective.
Come Friday . . . all the hope they had on that first Palm Sunday
was gone, gone, gone. So in their minds, nothing had changed, and nothing
was different! Aunt Millie’s was still dead, the gout was still here,
and the Romans are still in charge.
So maybe you can understand how the people might go from Sunday’s
“Hosannas” to Friday’s ”Crucify Him.” Maybe
you can understand how Matthew could write: “But the chief priests and
the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed”
(27:20).
“Jesus--He sold you a bill of Goods. Where is the free
lunch? Sure looks to me like sick folks are still sick, dead folks are still
dead, and the Romans are still in charge. You want something to be done about
the Romans? Barabbas is your man. He might not be a “king.” Oh,
sure he’s got his warts, no doubt about it. The man isn’t perfect--but
he can sure take out a Roman or two.”
You see when folks are disillusioned and discouraged and disappointed--when
people are without hope they do desperate, despicable, dreadful things. It’s
easy for them to be persuaded when they don’t have hope. You see, the
hopeless, the discouraged, the disappointed don’t always think so clear.
You see it on the news all the time. Why do teenagers and young
adults in the Middle East strap on bombs and blow up themselves and maybe
a few innocent people along with them? How could you do that? How could anyone
be a suicide bomber? You do that when you have no hope.
How can people turn to drugs and alcohol to lessen their hurts
and to ease their pain? You do that when you don’t have any hope.
How can people turn to self-destructive, family-destructive
habits, patterns, behaviors, and lifestyle choices? You do that when you have
no hope.
The people in Jerusalem, the ones calling for the murderer Barabbas
to be released and for Jesus to be crucified, they didn’t know the Hope
that could have been found in Christ. That’s a big problem to be without
hope.
They didn’t know the hope that my friend Elizabeth knows.
My friends, Granvel and Elizebeth, had a son named, Gene, who was born with
cerebral palsy. While the doctors were unsure how long Gene would live, it
became very apparent that Elizabeth’s life would be forever changed
because of this child.
Cerebral palsy as you know is not what any parent would dream
of for their child. Gene would never walk, could never talk, and would never
feed himself. Elizabeth and Granvel would never video tape their son taking
his first toddler steps. Gene would never be able to make homemade Valentines
or Mother’s day cards. There would be no cheering for him at baseball
games. No school play try-outs. No children’s Christmas musicals at
church.
And for 30 years--30 years think of that--Gene lived. If he
was going to eat, Elizabeth or Granvel fed him. For 30 years, every trip to
the bathroom one of them was there. It was 30 years of 24 hours a day, seven
days a week caring for their son. 30 years.
I suppose others in that situation would view it as hopeless.
Others might have viewed it as too much work, too much trouble, too much of
a crimp in their lifestyle. Others might have become disillusioned, disappointed,
discouraged. However my friends have the hope of Jesus Christ. And that hope
makes all the difference.
I called Elizabeth to ask her permission to share with you this
story, and we were talking about the years she served her son. The son who
could never say thank you, and could never give her a hug. I said, “Elizabeth
I’m going to be talking about hope this Sunday, Christian hope. In so
many words, she said “Oh, I have hope.” Because the next time
she sees Gene, he won’t be in a wheelchair. The next time she sees Gene
he will run to her and he will give her a big bear hug--something he could
never ever do in his 30 years on this planet. And he’ll be able to talk
long and strong and clear. The next time she sees Gene the Bible says will
be at the Great Banquet feast, but no one will have to spoon-feed Gene his
food. Not this time. Their hope in Jesus Christ was that Gene’s situation
was not permanent. That Jesus has a plan: it’s a good plan.
We believers have a hope in the Life Giver who said: I have
come that they (so that you and me) may have life, and have it to the full
(John 10:10).
We believers have hope in our Friend who said: Greater love
has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my
friends . . . (John 15:13-14).
We believers have hope in the Living Victorious One who said:
I am the Living One. I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever!
And I hold the keys of death and Hades (Revelation 1: 18).
Christian believers, we have hope this Sunday! Whatever your situation, whatever
your problem, whatever your dilemma, if you know Jesus Christ you can have
hope! Glorious hope. Wonderful Hope! We have a lot to rejoice about today.
We need not be like the fickle crowd in Jerusalem: we have hope
in Christ. I may have problems, but I also have Jesus. And when I’ve
got Jesus, I’ve got all I need to handle life’s trials and burdens
and struggles! We have hope!
So we are not like the crowd in many ways. They were saying,
“Hosanna,” but it was just words. They were without real hope.
There is an area in which we are like the crowd in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago.
However, because of our hope--get this--we will have an opportunity, you and
I every other believer that has ever lived, to have our own palm waving, glory
hallelujah party. Did you know that? It’s true. We certainly have missed
Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. We can’t go back in time
and wave our palms high in the air like they did 2,000 years ago. Yet there’s
going to be another Palm Waving Party--and here’s the cool news--you
are invited!
Listen to these words of tremendous hope from John the Revelator.
Remember John had this awesome vision of Heaven. But he also had a huge task:
describe what he just saw. How do you describe the indescribable? That’s
a pretty impossible task but that’s what John was called to do. At one
point this is what he says: (read Revelation 7:9-12). I don’t know the
tune, but I sure like the words to that song!
Friends, what John is seeing is another palm waving party. We
weren’t there for the first time around. We weren’t standing on
the streets of Jerusalem when Jesus came riding into town on the back of a
donkey. We were born about 2,000 years too late. But that’s okay; don’t
you worry. There’s going to be another party. And this time around it
won’t be a fickle crowd—-it will be a faithful crowd. And at the
next palm waving party, no one will be changing their story four days later.
No one will be going from “Hosannas” to “Crucify Him.”
That’s not going to happen. Like the old song says: “After 10,000
years we will have just gotten started, after 10,000 years we will have just
begun.” And we’ll be shouting and singing and waving those branches
and saying: "Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and
power and strength be to our God for ever and ever! Amen."
There is going to be a party for those who have found their hope in the Lord.
I’ve got to tell you I can’t wait! Punch my ticket,
I’m ready to go! I can’t wait! Anybody like me--can’t wait
for the party? Ready to stand before the throne and before the Lamb, Palm
branch in hand, ready to praise God? Anybody ready for that? Who’s going
to be waving a Palm Branch next to you? Maybe you’re hoping it’s
St. Peter or Paul.
I tell you this--my friends Granvel and Elizabeth they’ll
be standing next to their boy Gene--waving those branches. Nobody is going
to have to hold Gene’s arms for him to wave his branch; nobody is going
to need to help in any way. He’s just going to be standing and waving
and shouting. All those things he couldn’t do on earth he’s going
to be doing on that great palm waving party day.
You have loved ones who have gone on before you— and they
were Christians. They’ll be there waving their branches and praising
the Lord.
Can you imagine that day? Can you really imagine it?
I want to help you imagine it. Before we go I want you to imagine
it. I don’t want you to get to heaven and have no experience in praising
Jesus and waving palm branches. That would be a terrible thing--an inexperienced
palm branch waver! So today we are going to do it. The band is going to come
up and play and sing and the ushers have palms they are going to hand out.
When you get your palm we’ll be singing and you’ve got to wave
it. And don’t be a timid little Nazarene waving your palm think of yourself
at basketball game if Kansas University would have won the NCAA tournament.
Put that palm up high and wave it! Wave it like you mean it. Wave it like
you’ll be waving it in heaven as you stand before the throne. I mean
really wave it, and sing. Loud!
Can we do that? Can we practice being in heaven at the palm waving party? We have hope in Jesus Christ--so let’s really praise the Lord!
