Today marks when Jesus Christ two thousand and seventeen years ago road in Jerusalem on a donkey, "As Jesus and the disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the town of Bethphage on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of them on ahead. “Go into the village over there,” he said. “As soon as you enter it, you will see a donkey tied there, with its colt beside it. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone asks what you are doing, just say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will immediately let you take them. The two disciples did as Jesus commanded. They brought the donkey and the colt to him and threw their garments over the colt, and he sat on it. Most of the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of him, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Jesus was in the center of the procession, and the people all around him were shouting," (Matthew 21:14,6-9). This experience is lauded as something we should join in celebration over, shouting and imitating the onlookers, "They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, "Hosanna!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Blessed is the king of Israel!" (John 12:13). We are actually called to confess "Jesus is Lord (God of Israel), and believe in your heart that God raised Him from dead." (Romans 10:9). The Palm holders we not seeing Jesus as God in flesh (John 1:1-18, Colossians 2:9, 1 John 4:1-3), but simply as liberator and messianic king, they failed to recognized on Palm Sunday is that their sentiments apply to Second Coming of Christ, not the first. coming where Jesus road on a donkey, beast of burden to show humility and that He was going be the Suffering Servant (Isaiah 53) not the conquering King. Hosanna is statement about conquering King, and is actually going to be proper when Jesus comes on a horse to judge, "Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war. His eyes were like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him that no one understood except himself. He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God. The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed him on white horses. From his mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing from a winepress. On his robe at his thigh was written this title: King of all kings and Lord of all lords." (Revelation 19:11-16), and when He establishes the Messianic Kingdom, "Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and a heavy chain in his hand. He seized the dragon—that old serpent, who is the devil, Satan—and bound him in chains for a thousand years. Then I saw thrones, and the people sitting on them had been given the authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony about Jesus and for proclaiming the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his statue, nor accepted his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They all came to life again, and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years. This is the first resurrection. (The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years had ended.) Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. For them the second death holds no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him a thousand years." (Revelation 20:1-6). Hosanna is statement for the Return of Christ, when He will fulfill the messianic kingship prophecies in Last Days for a thousand years. Really what the people in Jerusalem should have been shouting would have been akin to saying "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of man, Ecce agnus Dei qui tollit peccata hominum, more simply Agnus Dei," or to literally say Jesus's name which Jesus (Iesous, Iesus, Yehusa) means God saves, and Immanuel God with us. The point is the people at Palm Sunday wanted Jesus to be messianic King, they had been retaught by the Maccabees to split the Messiah in two, one savior and the other a king; when the Messiah is both Bridegroom and King.
It is written that Jesus refused to be made a king, "Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself." (John 6:15). And when pressed by Pilate he said, "Jesus answered, "My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world." (John 18:36). Christ's First Coming was to take away the sins of man (1 John 3:5) and all who beleive in Him will have eternal life (John 6:40, John 3:16). Jesus came for sin issue, the eternal and seperation issue between God and Man called sin, His Second Coming will be the Messanic reign that those on Palm Sunday hoped for. Thus it behooves us to recongize, Hosanna is proper for when Christ comes on clouds and judges (Revelation 1:7), and rules from Jerusalem (Revelation 20:4-6), but on Palm Sunday we really should welcome image of Christ on donkey with Agnus Dei, Behold Lamb of God comes to take away sins of man (John 1:29). That is proper spirit of Palm Sunday, because Jesus rode into Jerusalem fufilling Zacariah, "" (donkey), and Jesus knew He was to die on cross at Jerusalem for sins of all mankind (1 Peter 2:24). Hosanai actually on Palm Sunday in 33 A.D. was a sign the people did not understand God's plan, and they failed to recongize the Suffering Servant and Lamb of God! Their remarks later of "crucify Him, Crucify Him," (John 19:15) and "You don't realize that it's better for you that one man should die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed. Caiaphas did not say this on his own. Instead, as high priest that year, he was prophesying that Jesus would die for the nation," (John 11:50-51) are proper sentiments, because Jesus had to die, God who is Jesus Christ (Titus 3:17, Colossians 2:9) had to secure our eternal destination, "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am," (John 14:3) and to cover us with His saving blood of His sacrifice (Hebrews 10, Hebrews 7:27, Romans 3:25, Hebrew 9:14, 1 John 2:2). Jesus had to become the Sacrifical Lamb before He could come and riegn as King as He will do as King of Kings (Revelation 19:16).
Most of people missed it on Palm Sunday. They were expecting what will happen at Jesus' Second Coming, and failled to see the Savior, the One who paid for the sins of all mankind with His blood and death on the cross (1 Peter 3:18, 1 Peter 2:24, 1 Peter 2:21). The Palm Sunday crowd was looking at salvation in the sense of word liberation, specically from Rome, and the rule of foreign powers, a political salvation, when Jesus had come to give eternal salvation to those who believe in Him (John 6:40). Palm Sunday really is about Jesus going to accomplish the salvic work of human souls. It is Christ riding to the cross, wheras when He turns he will have marks of cross and carry a cruciform sword to crush the nations and wicked who refused to believe and be the Conquering King. Our celebration of Palm Sunday should really involve images of Isaiah 53 and perhaps the recongition that Jesus road to His birthplace in Mary's Womb in Bethelhem on a donkeyand then road to His death for salvation of man on a donkey . The horse will be when Jesus Returns to judge the living and dead. So let us instead invoke Agnus Dei, Behold Lamb of God who takes sins away. Amen.
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