Today we are commemorating Palm Sunday, Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem, the day that the people of Israel were hailing Him as the Messiah.
People saw Jesus as the coming Messiah, the Savior of the world and were placing their coats and palm leaves on the ground as He rode into town on the foal of a donkey.
The people yearned for a king, a Messiah who would set up His kingdom and deliver them from Roman oppression.
But as we know, Jesus didn’t come to topple the Roman Empire or to set up His own kingdom - He came to Jerusalem to fulfill His Father’s will.
Palm Sunday was also the beginning of what is referred to as the Passion Week - Jesus' final week before His crucifixion. Let’s look at the events that happened that week.
On Monday, Jesus curses the fig tree, and it withers, He cleanses the temple of those making money off the religious system, then spends the rest of Monday and Tuesday answering His opponents and instructing His disciples.
On Wednesday before the Passover the Jewish authorities plot against Jesus because they refuse to recognize Him as a King and instead want Him dead. Why would they want Him dead? Because He posed a threat to their power and influence over the people.
On Thursday evening, Jesus has one last meal with His disciples - what we know as the Last Supper. Judas, who was bribed by the chief priests with 30 pieces of silver to betray Jesus, leads a contingent of Roman soldiers and temple guards to arrest Him that evening.
By early Friday morning, Jesus had gone through three mock trials by the religious establishment, had been falsely accused and found guilty of insurrection and blasphemy. During the trials the majority of the disciples had fled, Judas, His betrayer had hung himself, and His disciple Peter, denied that he even knew Him.
Around 6 am on Friday, He is led before the Roman prefect Pontius Pilate in the first of three phases of His trial with the Gentiles. But this was no surprise to Jesus, He knew all that He would have to face in this final week before His crucifixion. Yet He was willing to endure incredible injustice and suffering because of the truth. He testified about:
Who He is
Why He came
28 Jesus’ trial before Caiaphas ended in the early hours of the morning. Then he was taken to the headquarters of the Roman governor. His accusers didn’t go inside because it would defile them, and they wouldn’t be allowed to celebrate the Passover. 29 So Pilate, the governor, went out to them and asked, “What is your charge against this man?” 30“ We wouldn’t have handed him over to you if he weren’t a criminal!” they retorted (John 18:28-38)
Who He is
Verses 33 - 35 say,
33 Then Pilate went back into his headquarters and called for Jesus to be brought to him. “Are you the king of the Jews?” he asked him. 34 Jesus replied, “Is this your own question, or did others tell you about me?” 35 “Am I a Jew?” Pilate retorted. “Your own people and their leading priests brought you to me for trial. Why? What have you done?” (John 18:33-35).
After interrogating Him and witnessing His demeanor, appearance, attitude, and answers he concludes that Jesus is not guilty of the charges brought against him. Jesus is no threat to the Roman government. But he wonders what Jesus could have done to cause His own people to hate Him so much that they would hand Him over to be executed by the Romans.
Jesus brought a wrecking ball to the religious kingdom of the day and exposed the motivation behind the system.
Because Jesus put light on how deceptive religion is, because He revealed the truth of how people could have peace with God through Him, the religious establishment hated Him. Jesus knows that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life and that no one could ever come to the Father except through Him. This is what He was claiming so when Pilate interrogated Him, 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.” Pilate said, “So you are a king?” (John 18:36-37)
God’s Kingdom is greater than any kingdom in this world, it is an eternal one, a secure one. Jesus said I know who I am.
Why He came
Jesus says to Pilate,
Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true (John 18:37)
Jesus was saying, “I left heaven and came into this world to point people to the truth, a higher truth, the unchanging reality of God’s existence, His love for the world. I came to speak about the reality of sin and evil, the devil, about heaven and hell and the way of salvation. I came to tell people the truth about themselves, life, death and forgiveness.
Jesus knew who He was and why He came to the world. It’s mind-boggling to think about God’s plan of redemption for the world and the sacrifice He made to make it possible.
Jesus was saying to Pilate, “Everyone who loves the truth, recognizes that what He says is true” to which Pilate responds,
““What is truth?””
Objective truth is something that is true for everyone, whether one agrees with it or not. An example of objective truth is that everyone dies. Some things will always be true and some things will always be false. But reality has a way of encroaching on people’s opinions.
Jesus told Pilate He was born to give witness to the objective truth of God’s existence. He not only witnessed about God as the ultimate reality, He claimed He and the God the Father were one. Can you imagine that everything that came out of Jesus’ mouth, everything that was written about Him was objective truth? - whether we agree with it or not.
The truth is that Jesus is God and one day He will return to judge the living and the dead. Every single person will stand in front of His throne and He will bring all things to light.
Christ’s suffering on the cross, testified of His love and mercy towards each one of us and would only be in vain if I refused to accept His supernatural, redemptive act.
His act was not in vain - the vanity is if I disregard or reject what He did and think that my good works will merit right standing with God. Paul said,
Therefore, I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there is no need for Christ to die (Galatians 2:21).
Religion can reform a person’s morals and modify his or her behavior but it cannot deliver us or do a thing to change our eternal destiny. Change of heart and destiny is only possible by having a living relationship with God through Jesus.
This is what the passion week is all about, the truth of who Christ really is and what He came to accomplish for this world.
All the world’s major religions, even atheism, feel compelled to account for Jesus' existence and teaching. Even if you’re not sure what is true but you want to know then I would encourage you to read the Bible, and find out more about the Man everyone feels compelled to describe.
