Think how often you put a carton of eggs, just plain old white eggs, into the refrigerator. Then frequently you come to the refrigerator, take out an egg or two and use it. In fact, for many people that is a daily thing. Eggs are a routine part of peoples' lives, so routine that we use them without paying much attention to them. Think of it. How closely did you examine the last egg that you ate? Did you even think about it? I doubt it. You took it, cracked it, and fried it. Routine! Who cares what it looked like?
Suppose that one morning this upcoming week you go to the refrigerator again for an egg. When you open the carton you see eggs brightly decorated in a multitude of colors. Oh! Now these eggs are different. You know they're not intended for your breakfast that day. I wouldn't even have to ask you why these special eggs are in your refrigerator. They are there for next Sunday – Easter. People decorate eggs specially for Easter.
However, what if you didn't know about Easter? What if you hadn't heard about the custom of dyeing eggs? What would you think? You'd wonder what kind of a chicken would lay such eggs. Then you'd go and find out where the eggs came from and why they were there, because it isn't normal to find them this way.
In one sense something like that should have taken place on that first Palm Sunday. For the first time many people saw Jesus in a special setting, different from the common every day setting in which they normally saw Him. What went through their minds?
I. What goes through people's minds when they see Jesus?
In His life Jesus had gone in and out of Jerusalem many times before this. When He came to Jerusalem on those occasions, you could always find Him spending lots of time in the temple, the center of Jewish religious life. His first trip there was as a baby. Then came His experience as a twelve year-old among the doctors and the teachers as He taught them there. After that, every festival that God had established in the worship life of the Jews that they were to attend, He was there. And now He comes again on the first Palm Sunday. What went through their minds as they saw Him?
On His other trips there people noticed Him. How could you very well miss someone teaching the way He was teaching and healing people as He was. How could you miss that? People noticed Him. Many didn't like it, but in fact, He had become a regular part of their lives – like a carton of plain old eggs, if you will, useful, but never examined very closely, at least never acknowledged in as wide spread a way as He was here.
Then all of a sudden Palm Sunday takes place. Jesus enters Jerusalem again for the umpteenth time, but in a different way. Crowds of people stream to Him. They follow from behind, while others are running out the city gates to meet Him. A chorus of children's voices joins in singing praises to God for Him. People pull down palm branches off the trees and other lay their coats on the ground in His path. All of a sudden the plain white egg has become special, highly decorated. What was going through their minds as they saw Him?
There definitely was the response of surprise, even agitation because many didn't understand it. Our Gospel Lesson said, “When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, ‘ Who is this ?'” What didn't they understand? Why were they surprised, even agitated?
Zechariah had prophesied this long before it happened when he wrote in our text: “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘See your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” And the people were hearing the references that were made to Jesus being “the Son of David” and “coming in the name of the Lord.” That meant royalty in the Jewish mind. Was someone coming to help free them from their slavery to Rome? And then they saw this king that children were singing to and the crowd was praising: no robes, no crown…on a donkey? That's like a world leader of today coming into town not in a bright shiny limousine but in a junky old Rambler. What must have been going through peoples' minds when they saw Him and asked, “ Who Is This? ”
For some doubt. Normally a king would come on a mighty war horse surrounded by well armed soldiers wearing polished helmets and armor, not a rag-a-muffin band of fishermen disciples.
For others disappointment. This wasn't even a brightly colored “egg”! Just a plain old, every day variety of a man. In fact, one might even question that by the way he looked – meek. People of the world don't want to see meekness in a character; they want to see bravado – like a football player bragging about his accomplishments and what he's going to do to the opposing team. Can you see meekness and gentleness as a characteristic of someone great, whose going to help defeat your enemy for you?
And so there was disbelief that He could ever fulfill what was being said about Him. What difference could this guy make? He didn't look like a king; He didn't act like a king; He didn't bear any marks of leadership ability. What difference could He make? It's no wonder they asked in a bewilderment, “ Who is this?”
II. What went through the prophet's mind when he saw Jesus?
Well, of course, Zechariah didn't see Jesus on the day of Palm Sunday. He was long gone - some 400 plus years before this. But Zechariah did see Jesus that day through the eyes of faith as the Holy Spirit revealed this prophecy to him. That which went through his mind he writes about when he says: “See, your king comes to you, righteous, having salvation.”
This description of “righteous” stuck out in the prophet's mind as the first thing above all others that described who Jesus is. He was “dressed” in a special way and was different from the norm, different from you and me. How? Let's get at it this way.
If I were to ask you what your favorite picture of Jesus is, what would you say? Is it the picture of Jesus with the little children on His knees? Is it the picture of Jesus praying in the Gethsemane? Is it a Christmas picture with the Baby Jesus lying in the manger? Is it the Shepherd picture where He is cradling a lamb in His arms?
We have many renditions of almost every aspect of Jesus' life, don't we – from His birth to His ascension to everything in-between. You may see lots of them this week in relation to the Last Supper, Gethsemane, the crucifixion, and the resurrection. And all of them bring precious, dear images to our hearts.
With that in mind consider this. How many pictures have you seen of Jesus driving out the money changers from the temple with whips lashing out and hands upturning the tables? That happened right after this grand Palm Sunday entrance. You rarely see pictures of Jesus in such events like that. How come? Perhaps because such pictures would make us uncomfortable!
You see, pictures like that remind us that Jesus is righteous, holy, and perfect, which is what Zechariah was getting at in His prophecy. Because He's righteous, He hates sin; He cannot and will not tolerate it. And that makes us uncomfortable. In fact, it ought to terrify us for we, like the money changers, are sinners. That means that if Jesus, the righteous king, came to us, He would be completely fair if he also cast us aside from His presence. That's a bitter truth that we don't want to see.
Yet, this is Who Jesus Is, as the prophet sees Him . He stands clothed in perfect righteousness. He also has the power to break down all His enemies and their weapons. He promises in our text, “I will take away the chariots…and the war horses…and the battle bow will be broken.” Perfect righteousness, perfect power! And we stand before Him clothed in sin and weakness. What a contrast! What should go through our minds when we see this?
Hopefully all the other pictures go through our minds – the ones where He's carrying the sheep, the ones where He's praying to His heavenly Father, the one's where He's holding the children, the ones where He's dying on the cross and rising from the grave for this is the other side of Jesus, the Gospel side, if you will, that makes Him so special and which people missed on that first Palm Sunday.
Yes, He didn't come like an earthly king. Yes, He didn't carry Himself like an earthly tyrant. Yes, He came in gentleness and humility, because He came to be our brother, our Savior from sin, one who would lower Himself in order to give His life up in our behalf. As Paul described Him in our Epistle Lesson this morning: “Who, being in very nature God (that's His perfect righteousness standing out), did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross.” Why? (Heb.2:15): “So that by His death he might destroy him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil – and free us who all our lives were held in slavery.” He wasn't a political or a social Savior; He was an eternal Savior who came to take care of our sin and its punishment. That's why God urges us through Zechariah, “Rejoice greatly!” That news excited those who saw it in Him then, and those who see it in Him now.
One day we'll see Him coming again, coming in heavenly glory. Will you know and rejoice then in Who He Is? God grant that to us in faith for Jesus' sake. Amen.