The Real Palm Sunday

Sermon Notes
Saturday & Sunday April 16& 17, 2011

Sermon: The Real Palm Sunday
Sermon Text: Mark 11:1-10 (NIV)

Palm Sunday is about more than a triumphant entry for Jesus.

Point 1: The Plan (V2) vs. 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here.

Upon reading the text we discover that Jesus had a plan. He had made preparations for the men and the colt to be available. Because Jesus is not a conquering king, but a suffering Messiah he would not ride in on a stallion or some grand animal, but a colt.
John 12: 1 states Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead…they had a dinner in his honor
(Mark 11:3)
Jesus knew the men would ask the disciples why they were untying the colt so He gave them a key phrase to use. He instructed the disciples to tell the men that Jesus had need of it and would return in shortly. This colt had to be released so Jesus’ plan could come to fruition. It is Jesus’ humanity, not his divinity, which is planning this event out.

Romans 8: 28 All things work together for the good for them who love the Lord and are called according to his purpose.- Psalms 139: 16 your eyes saw my unformed body All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
We must realize that if Jesus was so meticulous in planning out His own life we can rest assured that He is doing the same for us. He is working out every detail. We may not always see when He is working but we can rest assured that it will work out for our good. Jesus has already planned our success; all we have to do is recognize that He has need of us and obey Him!

Point 2: The Parade (V7) 7 And they brought the colt to Jesus, and threw their garments on it; and he sat upon it.

When the plan works out the parade can begin. There are several problems with parades- they need popularity to be successful, everyone has an opinion about it, and we can only see one piece of the parade at a time which may cause us to miss the purpose. Aside from this, the major issue is that parades have people in them. This is the very reason people were cheering for Jesus at one part of the parade and jeering Him at another point in the parade. If people were able to see the entire parade (the beginning and the end) they would not have wanted to crucify Him. The same goes for our lives; people will often see bits and pieces of our lives and make judgments. They are only walking by, they don’t know the purpose of our parades, nor do they see the route.

You must watch the people in your parade. Remember:
1. Everyone that is with you isn’t with you.
2. Everyone that is cheering for you doesn’t truly care about your success.
3. Everyone along your journey doesn’t understand your journey.
4. Which means you have to be like Jesus:
a. Stay focused
b. Get on your donkey
c. Ride


Point 3: The Palms (V8,10) vs. 8 Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields.

They were waving palms for power, purpose, and persuasion. We, too, often wave palms with hopes that we can persuade Jesus to conquer our problems. Jesus isn’t interested in our palms but He is interested in His palms. Palm Sunday is not about the palms that we wave but it is about when Jesus waved His palms. It is about Jesus’ journey to His destiny. The real Palm Sunday is the beginning of the end of our sins. Had Jesus’ not done this we wouldn’t have a plan, a parade, or a journey for our lives.