HOPE MISPLACED ON PALM SUNDAY
‘Angelina Jolie has filed charges against Brad Pitt’, screamed a recent new headline. Ask me no more, because I do not know the details and I don’t care to know much either. However it is intriguing that barely a decade earlier, these two were the talk of the world as they embarked on a romance, becoming the ‘power couple’ of Hollywood. Such is the sad story of most divorces where couples that are strongly in love, end up hating each other after a while.
When Jesus entered into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, it was a great love story. The Jews were beyond excited, as the popular preacher and miracle worker, was now entering the political arena of Jerusalem. They were excited at the prospect of Jesus becoming another David, and rescuing them from Roman rule and restoring the Jewish nation. And the symbolism was hard to miss. Riding a donkey, which was the stead of kings, he rode into Jerusalem, acknowledging that he was king. With great eagerness, they took their robes off and laid them on the street in submission to the king and deliverer-to-be. The crowd shouted in unison, ‘Hosanna’, which means ‘Save’.
Yet as Jesus went around Jerusalem after that fateful entry, it became increasingly clear to the crowd that he was not going to be the political deliverer they expected. Rather, he wanted to save them from their sin, which according to Him was their greatest need! Imagine being told that you are sinful and that you need to come before God in submission and repentance. Imagine the chagrin of the Pharisees and the Jewish leaders when he went around clearing the temple and driving out the vendors, destroying the well established business-temple nexus. And the final straw was when he told his disciples that he would go to the cross and be crucified for the sins of mankind.
With hope misplaced and disappointment large amidst one and all, the crowd quickly turned from love to hate. And the same crowd that chanted ‘Hosanna’ and welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem was quick to condemn him and demand his crucifixion. Such was their disappointment and hate that they refused Pilate’s offer to let him go in place of Barabbas, a criminal.
Disappointment results when man turns to God with the hope of finding a supermarket that will provide him with everything he wants, but ends up finding a Savior who tells him that he needs to turn away from his sin. Yet, it is in turning away from one’s sin and finding salvation on the cross, where Jesus paid for the price of sin with his blood, that man finds peace.
2 thoughts on “HOPE MISPLACED ON PALM SUNDAY”
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Brother,
If the joyful welcome by the crowd while Jesus entered Jerusalem was something that came from a misplaced trust in Christ, why did the Lord respond to the Pharisees who wanted Jesus to hush the crowds saying, ““I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.?”
Could it be that the composition of the crowd that hated Jesus was different from the one that welcomed him joyfully into Jerusalem?
Thanks Praveen, for the question.
It’s possible, but I think unlikely, because Jesus’ staunchest supporters- his disciples also deserted him when he refused to initiate violence at Gethsemane. Every one at Jerusalem was disappointed with Jesus.
Their praise on Palm Sunday certainly had value as Jesus attested, but man praising God one day does not guarantee that he would not curse Him the next.