Palm Sunday 2026 - John 12

We've been in Matthew for quite some time, but

today, and we're going next week, we'll have

a bit of a reprieve and celebrate Palm Sunday,

celebrate the resurrection of our Lord next week

with Easter. Today, we're going to take as our

text the 12th chapter of John. We read the Luke

chapter, and so this is going to be John's version

of the triumphal entry. We'll begin at verse

12. The next day a great multitude that had come

to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was

coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees,

and they went out to meet him and cried out,

Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name

of the Lord, the King of Israel. Then Jesus,

when he had found a young donkey, sat on it.

As it is written, Fear not, daughter of Zion.

Behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey's

colt. His disciples did not understand these

things at first. But when Jesus was glorified,

then they remembered that these things were written

about him and they had done these things to him.

Therefore the people who were with him when he

called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised from

the dead bore witness. For this reason the people

also met him because they heard that he had done

this sign. The Pharisees therefore said among

themselves, You see that you are accomplishing

nothing? Look, the world has gone after him.

Let's pray. Almighty and gracious Father, Would

you meet with us today by your precious spirit?

Father, open our eyes and Lord, give us understanding,

not just to receive the text, but as it is the

very word of God. Lord, would you help us to

see Christ as he is, the humble king, yet will

be glorious, Lord, in his return. Lord, we need

you this morning. God, open the word of the Lord

and feed us with the true manna. from heaven,

which is your son. And it's in his name we pray.

Amen. As I said earlier, today's Palm Sunday,

and this is where we remember our Lord's triumphal

entry into Jerusalem. It's interesting that this

particular event, the triumphal entry, it's one

of the few events that are recorded in all four

Gospels. You often see things in Matthew, Mark,

and Luke called the synoptic Gospels, but John's

usually the outlier. But this event's also recorded

in John's Gospel. Today, as Pastor Kyle mentioned,

this marks the beginning of what has traditionally

been known as Passion Week. And this is where

Christians around the world, we remember the

final week of our Lord's earthly ministry. And

for today, I want you to put yourself in the

crowd that day as Jesus is riding into Jerusalem.

The city, Jerusalem itself, it's filled with

excitement. Word had spread that the one who

can raise the dead is on his way. You see, Jesus

had just recently raised Lazarus from the dead,

and that took place in Bethany. Bethany is just

about two short miles from Jerusalem. So no doubt

everyone had heard about this incredible miracle.

And as Jesus is approaching the city gates, the

people begin to gather palm branches. And they

begin to shout, Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes

in the name of Yahweh. In the name of the Lord.

The people are shouting. And they're shouting

that Jesus is the king of Israel. This one, riding

on a donkey, is the long -awaited Messiah. But

then you see him. He's not at all what you were

expecting. I mean, you're expecting a king. You

would expect him to be accompanied by royal soldiers,

escorting him into the capital city. Surely the

king would be seated on a royal horse, but not

him. He's on a young donkey. No pomp or circumstance.

There's no grand display of royal splendor. You

think to yourself, I mean, this is very unusual

for a royal procession. And to make it even more

surprising, Jesus was not dressed at all like

a king. He's not wearing a royal robe. There's

no crown on his head, at least not yet, and he's

not holding a royal scepter in his hand. He's

dressed as an ordinary Galilean, not a royal

monarch. God's king is not at all what you were

expecting. As we think about the background,

we have to understand this triumphal entry, it

is a significant event, not just for the people

of Jesus' day, but for Christians throughout

history. Which is why 2 ,000 years later, we

still commemorate this event. But what makes

this so important? Why is it so important that

it's mentioned in all four Gospels? I mean, why

do we still remember and commemorate Palm Sunday?

Well, there are two reasons. First, because this

is the first time that Jesus made a public claim

to be the Messiah and King of Israel. Now, people

had called him, people had suspected, but he

had never said that of himself. So today he's

receiving that praise. Secondly, though, we remember

it because this is the culmination of his final

long journey to the cross. Jesus is the king.

He is the king of Israel. And his humble entrance

into Jerusalem stands in stark contrast to the

kingdom of the world. See, the world values strength

and power. wealth and prestige, fame and beauty,

those are all hot commodities in the kingdom

of the man. But that's not the way the kingdom

of God operates. The kingdom of God, what God

truly values, was given to us in Matthew 5. Blessed,

happy are the poor in spirit. That's who gets

the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who

mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are

the meek. They will inherit the earth. Blessed

are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful,

and this is in a Roman culture that did not value

mercy, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are

the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed

are the peacemakers, for they shall be called

sons of God. See, in the kingdom of God it's

strange because it's not the rich who we see

as blessed, it's rather the poor in spirit. It's

not the powerful who are blessed, but the merciful.

He says it's not the strong man, it's the meek

man. Not those who are seeking riches, but those

who are seeking after righteousness. The kingdom

of God is antithetical and opposite to the kingdom

of man. It's opposite that of the world. And

so it is when we see God's chosen king, he looks

very different than we would perhaps expect.

Because the royal dignitaries of this age, they

love pomp and circumstance. Just look at Buckingham

Palace. They love elaborate parades held in their

honor. Ancient kings would ride on royal steeds

which had been bred for that specific purpose.

Everyone knew the king's horse. It's a display

of power. and prestige. And that's how we expect

a king to arrive. That makes sense to us, but

that is not how God's king made his entrance.

Jesus, at this point, had already captured the

attention, but also the anger of the religious

leaders who lived in Jerusalem. Now these religious

leaders, these shepherds of Israel, they were

supposed to be leading the people of God into

truth. I mean, they should have, of all people,

been the one to be able to see that Jesus is

the one who had been sent by God. They knew the

scriptures. They had studied them meticulously.

But instead, these men were self -indulgent,

arrogant, and spiritually blind. They could not

see the truth that was right before him because

they had too much on the line. They had too much

at stake, and there was too much for them to

lose. Their power? Their own prestige, their

own position, if you will, were now at stake.

They're so jealous of the one riding on the donkey.

They're jealous of Jesus. They're jealous of

his popularity with the crowds. And it's no surprise

that crowds were drawn to this man. I mean, think

about it. They had heard and some had even witnessed

he can heal sick people. Lepers get cleansed

by just a touch from this man. He can restore

hearing and sight. Oh, if they're lame, he can

make the lame walk again. But what if you're

hungry? We've heard that he can multiply fish

and bread and feed thousands of people. And we

know for certain just a few days before this,

Jesus had publicly raised Lazarus from the dead

after four days. That's a profound event. It

was so impactful that Lazarus' testimony led

many people to believe in Jesus. As I said earlier,

keep in mind that raising of Lazarus was just

two miles outside of Jerusalem. It's in a little

town called Bethany. Jerusalem, the capital city,

well, that's the seat of the Sanhedrin, the official

ruling body of Israel. Well, the Sanhedrin, they

did not want some rival power like Jesus rising

to power. That's a threat to them. They feared

him. So they want him gone. They don't want him

removed. And then when they learned of Lazarus

being raised, they knew they had to act. So they

convened a council and they determined Jesus

must die. Therefore, Jesus did withdraw for a

short time, but he later returned to Bethany

where there's a celebration dinner in his honor.

It's there where Mary breaks the flask and pours

the expensive ointment upon him, Jesus said,

anointing him for burial. But meanwhile, in Jesus'

absence for that short period of time, word is

spreading, word is getting out, and it's gone

all throughout Jerusalem about Lazarus and what

Jesus had done to him. And keep in mind, this

is the day or the time of the great feast, the

great Passover celebration. At Passover, Jerusalem

would have been filled with hundreds of thousands

of Jewish pilgrims who had come from all over

to observe Passover. I said, Jerusalem's overflowing.

It's teeming with people. Just by nature being

Passover, there's excitement in the air. But

now, there's talk about a man who can raise the

dead. And so what do they do? They begin to celebrate.

They begin to look to this man. So when the people

found out that Jesus had come back to Bethany,

well, what would you do? Let's go see him. Let's

go see this man, and let's see the dead man who

was raised. So now the religious leaders are

not just mad at Jesus, they're mad at Lazarus.

Let's kill him. Because many are going after

Jesus because of this man. So now Jesus leaves

Bethany and he's headed to Jerusalem with his

disciples, but he's followed by a very large

crowd. Now Jesus knew the Sanhedrin's decision.

He knew their plot against him, yet he boldly

goes to Jerusalem anyways. And we'll look at

the first two verses, verse 12 and 13. The next

day, a great multitude that had come to the feast,

when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,

they took branches of palm trees and went out

to meet him. And they're crying out, Hosanna.

Blessed he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Notice that L -O -R -D, all caps. Blessed is

he who comes in the name of Yahweh. This is the

king of Israel. Now, I think it's very important,

if you're going to understand what's happening

here, there are two groups of people who are

present in Jerusalem at this time. You've got

the local residents, the local Jerusalemites,

but then you also have those hundreds of thousands

of Jewish pilgrims who had come to observe Passover.

It's these pilgrims who took the palm branches

and went out to meet Jesus. Sometimes we hear

stories about the same people who cried to Hosanna,

then on Friday wanted to kill him. That's not

necessarily true. There's two groups. The local

people, the Sanhedrin, the ruling body, yes,

they do. But these Jewish pilgrims, they're recognizing

something. Now, John's gospel says it's a great

multitude. But Matthew, in his gospel, he says

it is a very great multitude. Matthew 21 .8.

So I looked up the word very great. It's the

word pleistos in Greek. It's a superlative. And

it means the largest numbers, what it literally

means. And so in this context, it means the greatest

possible crowd. So this is massive. This is a

massive crowd during Passover, which would have

caused quite a scene. Now, the Sanhedrin's already

ruled that Jesus is going to die. They're already

upset. And now it's like their nightmare is coming

true. You have massive crowds. flocking to Jesus.

It's during Passover, so even more people are

present there to witness it. And these people,

what are they doing? They're taking off their

outer garments and they're spreading their clothes

on the road and they're cutting down palm branches

and waving it before him. And you're like, well,

what's the big deal? Well, if you're Jewish,

the palm branch was a tremendous sign. It's a

sign of joy. It's a sign of triumph, conquest.

And it was even used in the Feast of Tabernacles

on festive occasions. Moreover, kings were welcomed

with palm branches being waved in the air. Palm

branches even appeared on ancient Jewish coins.

So it's a symbol. It's a Jewish symbol. You have

joy, thanksgiving, and victory, all represented

by the palm branch. You also see, and I love

this, we see the palm branch again in the book

of the Revelation. Revelation chapter 7. After

Revelation 7 · chapter mention

these things, I looked and behold a great multitude,

which no one could number, of all nations, all

tribes and peoples and tongues. And they're standing

before the throne and before the Lamb. And they're

clothed with white robes with palm branches in

their hands. And they're crying out with a loud

voice saying, Salvation belongs to our God who

sits on the throne and to the Lamb. Do you see

the importance of that palm branch being waved

before Jesus? These Jewish pilgrims, they were

welcoming Jesus. This is our King. This is the

King of Israel. And they're crying out Psalm

118. Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the

name of Yahweh. Psalm 118, if you read it, it's

a psalm of thanksgiving. And they're thanking

God for victory. This is God's victorious king.

Hosanna. What's Hosanna mean? Save now. Save

us. Deliver us is what it means. They're saying

that Psalm 118 is fulfilled in Jesus. They're

saying that Jesus is the one coming in the name

of Yahweh to save them. Mark tells us something

additionally. He said, blessed is the kingdom

of our father David. It's not just Hosanna, it's

also this is the son of David. So when you're

starting to put it together, Jesus was the king

of Israel who had been sent by the God of Israel,

by Yahweh himself. So now can you imagine how

excited the people are? They're excited. They're

thinking, Jesus can save us from Rome. Okay,

now we start to see something. If he has power

over death, then surely he can defeat the Roman

army, right? So the crowds were celebrating and

their right to do so. Their king had come, that's

a true statement, and they would at last now

have their victory. No. They're thinking Israel

is going to be vindicated. Their national glory

will be restored. Now what did Jesus think of

all this? Because earlier in his ministry, when

the people got excited and wanted to proclaim

and make him king, he withdrew. You saw that

in the feeding of the 5 ,000 there in John chapter

John 6:15

6, verse 15. Jesus says, when he perceived that

they were about to come and take him by force

to make him king, he departed again to a mountain

by himself alone. But now, Luke 19. And some

of the Pharisees said to him from the crowd,

teacher, do you see what they're doing? Rebuke

these dumb people is what they're saying. Rebuke

your disciples. And he said, I won't. I tell

you that if they don't cry out in praise, these

rocks are going to open up their voice here soon.

So you find something. His hour had not come

in John 6. His hour had now come. The Lord willingly

received their praise. And he said, moreover,

if these people fail to honor me as king, the

very rocks that were created by God will cry

out in praise. Jesus didn't reject the title

king at all. But he did reject their expectation

of what he should do as king. So the people are

right about who he is, but they were wrong about

what he came to do. A great misunderstanding.

There were false expectations of what the Messiah

should do. But it's not a whole lot different

even today. Today, you find Jesus being promoted

all over social media and different media outlets.

But there's different expectations of what Jesus

should do. For some, people see Jesus, he's the

therapist, and he had come to improve self -esteem

and feelings of themselves. Others see Jesus,

well, he's a counselor who will fix their relationships

and problems. Others see him as the healer who

guarantees physical health. Others see him as

proprietor. He's a provider of financial blessing.

And every single one of those strands are false

expectations. I've used this term before. I hope

it makes sense. But that's all because of an

over -realized eschatology. Let me explain that.

An over -realized eschatology is when you expect

now what is only promised later. See, in the

future, when the kingdom arrives in its fullness,

it's already here, but when it arrives in its

fullness, then at that day there will be no pain

or sickness or poverty. But in this age, God's

people face trials. The Apostle Paul told the

churches into which he ministered, he said this

in Acts 14, he said, we must through many tribulations

enter the kingdom of God. Friends, it is in this

age when God's people bear their cross. In the

eschaton, in the age to come, they will receive

their crown. It is not time yet. Yes, the kingdom's

here. I want us to understand it's so important.

The kingdom's here, but it's not here in its

fruition. It's not here in its fullness. Yes,

Jesus is God's appointed king, but he would follow

the Father's plan and not the crowd's expectations.

Well, what's the Father's plan? Mark 10, he tells

us. Mark 10, 33 and 34. Behold, we are going

up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man is going

to be betrayed to the chief priests and to the

scribes. And they will condemn him to death and

deliver him to the Gentiles. And they'll mock

and scourge him and spit on him and kill him.

And the third day he will rise again. Of all

people, that inner group of disciples should

have understood the Lord's mission. But they

didn't get it. They failed to understand. Now

obviously the crowds could not understand. They

did not know Jesus had come to free them from

their sin, not from Rome. They couldn't see it.

They did not understand he came as the lamb and

he returns as the lion. Look at verses 14 and

15. Then Jesus, when he found a young donkey,

sat on it. As it is written, Fear not, daughter

of Zion. Behold, your king is coming, sitting

on a donkey's colt. He chose to ride into the

capital city on a donkey. The king is coming

in humility. If he were the king they were expecting,

the military conqueror, I believe he would have

ridden a war horse. But instead he's sending

a message through this animal. He's riding into

Jerusalem on a lowly animal. Earthly kings display

power. Jesus displayed humility. Think about

the false prophet Muhammad. Historians tell us

that Muhammad, when he entered Mecca, he entered

Mecca on a war horse with 400 mounted men and

10 ,000 foot soldiers. That's what you would

expect. Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey accompanied

by 12 disciples. So incongruent, isn't it? God's

kingdom came in the most unexpected way. Don't

miss it. He had come to die for his people. That

donkey is representing peace, not war. But peace

would come not by defeating the Romans with the

sword. Our Lord secured eternal peace by allowing

the sword to fall on him. That's it. Now, Jesus

is fulfilling prophecy here. There's a prophecy

from the Old Testament prophet Zechariah, chapter

Zechariah 9:9

9, verse 9. Zechariah writes, Rejoice greatly,

O daughter of Zion. Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem.

Behold, your king is coming to you. Wow, that's

great. He's just and having salvation, even greater.

Lowly and riding on a donkey. What? A colt, the

foal of a donkey. Zechariah told Israel, your

king will come lowly. Now normally, we do not

associate lowliness with royalty. Instead of

that triumphant war horse, God's king comes as

a servant on a servile donkey. Now, Zechariah

9 .9, there is a verse that follows, verse 10.

I want you to notice here. He says, I will cut

off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from

Jerusalem. The battle bow shall be cut off. He

shall speak peace to the nations. His dominion

shall be from sea to sea and from the river to

the ends of the earth. I love this. He speaks

peace to the nations. Oh, the irony. It is through

this humble donkey riding king worldwide peace

comes. And Zechariah tells us that a day is coming

when the weapons of war, the bow and the chariot,

they will no longer be needed. Why? Because his

reign of peace will be worldwide. Notice, to

the ends of the earth. But how would he do it?

Well, he's got to secure peace. He's got to crush

Rome, right? No. In the highest of ironies, he

allows himself to be crushed by Rome. The kingdom

of God does not come by force, but by sacrifice.

I told you the crowds misunderstood it. They

weren't alone. The disciples didn't even understand.

Look at verse 16 with me. His disciples did not

understand these things at first. But when Jesus

was glorified, then they remembered that these

things were written about him and that they had

done these things to him. I love that this verse

is here in Scripture. That means the people who

were there that day, they were unaware that they

were fulfilling Zechariah's prophecy. So it's

not like anyone that day was consciously trying

to fulfill Zechariah 9 .9. No, they didn't know

it. In fact, it wasn't until after Jesus had

already risen from the grave and is glorified,

then it was revealed to them, oh, yeah, we did

do that. Oh, that is what Zechariah said. Then

they understood what had taken place. Verses

17 and 18. Therefore the people who were with

him when he called Lazarus out of his tomb and

raised him from the dead, they bore witness,

they're testifying. For this reason the people

also met him because they had heard they had

done this sign. All right. Jesus finally arrived

in Jerusalem. And those who saw him raise Lazarus,

they began to go around all Jerusalem telling

people all about it. Now you can imagine how

this would play out, right? I mean, you see a

man raise a man from the dead after he'd been

dead four days. I mean, you're going to go around

telling people, I mean, this man, look at him.

He has the power to raise the dead. This is the

Messiah. I was there when he brought Lazarus

back to life. I saw it with my own eyes. And

their eyewitness testimony. Would have been very

convincing, by the way. Verse 19. The Pharisees,

therefore, sat among themselves. You can imagine,

they're over there and they're just like, frustrated,

angry, brooding. You see that you're accomplishing

nothing. They're talking to each other. Great

plan. You see that you're accomplishing nothing.

Look, the world has gone after him. They knew

their efforts had failed. In fact, the more they

tried to silence Jesus, the greater his fame

grew. It seemed as if the whole world had gone

after him. Jerusalem's filled with several hundred

thousand visitors. But sadly, many of them had

gone after him for all the wrong reasons. They're

willing to shortchange themselves. They wanted

political freedom. Just give us freedom from

Rome. They could not understand that their most

pressing need was freedom from their sin. I told

you that king was not wearing a crown, but he

would wear one. It's not a crown of gold, it

would be a crown of thorns. And the kingdom of

God would not come through triumph, but through

the cross. Put yourself in the crowd again that

day. You've got the palm in your hand. And you're

crying out, your voice is on with them because

you're caught up with the rapture of the moment.

Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name

of Yahweh. You're there and you're hailing him

as king. But the question we have to ask this

morning is will you still proclaim him king when

he leads you through unexpected ways? Are you

still going to proclaim him and hail him as king

when he leads you through suffering and loss?

Through pain and disappointment? Palm Sunday

ends at the cross. And everyone who follows this

crucified king is called to pick up their cross

and follow him. Is he worth it to you? If your

eyes have been opened by God himself, absolutely

he's worth it. He says, so now what? What do

we do? Jesus, as I said, he did not come riding

Jerusalem on an iron chariot with a sword drawn.

The Son of God, he chose to enter on that lowly

donkey. Friends, God's kingdom has come through

humility, and it is spread through humility,

not through hubris. Don't spend all your time

and energy fighting politically. Have a humble

posture and tell of this crucified risen king.

Because if you want entrance into the kingdom,

there's only one way. That's you must embrace

this king. You must bow your knee before him

and confess him as Lord. And those in whom the

Lord has worked, this is what we all do. If you're

here today and you know Christ, the greatest

joy of my life is to bow my knee and confess

with my tongue. Jesus Christ is Lord. Absolutely,

that's the greatest joy. Psalm 2 tells us about

that, and we close with this. Psalm 2 is a messianic

psalm. God speaking, the Father. Yet I have set

my king on my holy hill of Zion. I will declare

the decree. The Lord Yahweh has said to me, you

are my son. Today I have begotten you. Now look

down at verse 10. Now therefore be wise, O kings.

He's speaking to the kings of the earth now.

Be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve

the Lord. Serve Yahweh with fear and rejoice

with trembling. Rejoice, but there ought to be

a healthy respect because he's Yahweh. He is

Elohim. He is God Almighty. And I love this,

verse 12. You want to know how you rejoice before

the Father? You want to know how you honor the

Father? Look at verse 12. Kiss his son. Kiss

the son, lest he be angry, and you perish in

the way. When his wrath is kindled but a little,

not a lot even, you perish with just a little

of his wrath. Can you imagine facing the full,

orbed, unmitigated, unrestrained wrath of God?

Blessed. We started with blessed. Blessed are

the poor in spirit. Blessed are the meek. Psalm

2 tells us, blessed are all those who put their

trust in him. So friends, on this Palm Sunday,

wave the palm frond, bow the knee, kiss the sun.

Blessed, happy, eternally blessed are you if

you put your trust in him. Alistair Begg says

this, Palm Sunday, therefore, reminds us that

true freedom and success, the kind that lasts

for eternity, come only when we lose our lives

in Christ. Laying down our desires, our dreams,

and ambitions at the foot of the cross in order

that we might belong unreservedly to him. What

a glorious message. What a glorious king. Church,

serve your king today. And if you're here today

and you've never bowed your knee, enter the kingdom,

bow the knee, kiss the son, and you too will

be blessed. Let's pray. Father, thank you for

this glorious, glorious word. Oh, Lord, it blows

our mind. Thank you for Jesus, Lord. Thank you

for the blessed son of God. All glory be to him,

Lord. Praise and honor be to him. Father, Hosanna.

Glory. God, help us to rightly reverence our

King. Jesus Christ is Lord. And with that, Lord,

may we commune with him at this table of the

Lord. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.