03.24.2013 Three Dramas of Palm Sunday - or The Day that Jesus Got Mad

11 Now as they approached Jerusalem, near Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples 2 and said to them, “Go to the village ahead of you. As soon as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 3 If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here soon.’” 4 So they went and found a colt tied at a door, outside in the street, and untied it. 5 Some people standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” 6 They replied as Jesus had told them, and the bystanders let them go. 7 Then they brought the colt to Jesus, threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. 8 Many spread their cloaks on the road and others spread branches they had cut in the fields. 9 Both those who went ahead and those who followed kept shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! 10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest
At Passover – the Jewish people from all over Israel – and the world – would do their best to come to Jerusalem for Passover. They would be pouring into the city on Palm Sunday – and as they did, they would be singing Psalms – Psalms of Ascent as they come into Jerusalem. Jerusalem is one of the highest points in Israel – and thousands of worshipers would be coming in – and would say/sing these psalms together:
Psalm 130
A song of ascents.
1 From the deep water I cry out to you, O Lord.
2 O Lord, listen to me!
Pay attention to my plea for mercy!
3 If you, O Lord, were to keep track of sins,
O Lord, who could stand before you?
4 But you are willing to forgive,
so that you might be honored.
5 I rely on the Lord,
I rely on him with my whole being;
I wait for his assuring word.
6 I yearn for the Lord,
more than watchmen do for the morning,
yes, more than watchmen do for the morning.
7 O Israel, hope in the Lord,
for the Lord exhibits loyal love,
and is more than willing to deliver.
8 He will deliver Israel
Let’s pray: Lord, as we remember all of the events of that Holy Week – help us to focus on what You’ve done to bring us life. Thank You for the suffering of the Son that Easter Sunday might happen. May it be a catalyst to live life well and pleasing to You. Lord, all things that have happened in the world point to the events that began on Palm Sunday and ended on Easter Sunday, and everything else in life flows from those events. Help us as we look at these events – what You did for us!
Three Dramas of Palm Sunday – The Day Jesus Got Mad!
Of course, there is the triumphal Entry – Jesus comes in, as they read, - and that story is purposeful and intentional. He has it – his actions were calculated. You might think it just happened, but it is very calculated – He knows what is going on – and prepared to enter Jerusalem. He does it, clearly, as the Messiah – the Scriptures that they quote – it is almost like a drama – the King has come – the Messiah has come – and the people who see this – they understand – the Pharisees see and understand and plot to put Him away. But He transforms their expectation – the King does not come as expected – instead He comes humble and gentle, riding on a donkey.
Mark 11: 11 Then Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple. And after looking around at everything, he went out to Bethany with the twelve since it was already late.
Jesus enters the temple – and looks around. This acts as a bridge – this drama and the next story tie together – and become one big story. He goes in and looks around – He is planning how He is going to act and what He is going to do – scoping out the situation.
We have the Triumphal entry, then the temple, then a story about a fig tree, then the temple again– then a fig tree. Each of these points to something and together they allow us to understand the story.
12 Now the next day, as they went out from Bethany, he was hungry. 13 After noticing in the distance a fig tree with leaves, he went to see if he could find any fruit on it. When he came to it he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.
The fig tree, we are told, represents Israel. It had leaves, it looked healthy, but it had no fruit. It was only outwardly religious, faithful. But in reality, there was no faithfulness there at all. They were concerned with the outward things, but not the transformed insides that produce fruit. Jesus knew it was not time for figs – He was making a point – an announcement of judgment on Israel because they had failed to be the people God called them to be.
He uses this to set up the next scene – the primary one we will look at today:
15 Then they came to Jerusalem. Jesus entered the temple area and began to drive out those who were selling and buying in the temple courts. He turned over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, 16 and he would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts.
He knows all that is going on in the temple – and He gets angry – and there are aspects of anger that are okay – but it was not an out of control anger – it was very controlled and very planned. The temple courts were where they believed God dwelt – they knew He was in heaven, but when He was on earth, it was where he dwelt. The leaders there were using the power – the power to run and control the temple – to control the nation. These leaders had formed an allegiance with Rome – over what went on in the temple. For instance – If someone desecrated the temple, the leaders were permitted to put the desecrator to death, apart from the jurisdiction of Rome – without going through their officials.
Some of Jesus’ followers were zealot revolutionaries – they must have thought – it is ON! Others were probably thinking – Oh no, it is on, we are gone! This is the final judgment on the nation Israel. He is saying it is over.
It is done.
He is announcing his judgment – Israel had formed allegiance with the world, the leadership was corrupt and filled with greed. They had failed to fulfill their calling.
17 Then he began to teach them and said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have turned it into a den of robbers!”
For ALL THE NATIONS! They had separated themselves from that mission. God’s call on Israel was that through them, God would demonstrate His love for all people. They had rejected God’s calling – they had insulated themselves. And judgment is coming. Their trust was in the temple, their practice of religious tradition – so much so that when their Messiah came, they couldn’t even tell.
18 The chief priests and the experts in the law heard it and they considered how they could assassinate him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed by his teaching. 19 When evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city.
20 In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. 21 Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered.”
The temple judgment is done – the tree is dead. Last week we looked at the vineyard – It is done – it is complete – simply one thing left to do. We have here the story of Jesus – the story of God’s Redemption. When we talk about “Just sow it” – it is the story we are sowing. The king is here. The son of God became Man, born of the Virgin Mary – the people he came to rejected Him – they have not believed Him – because they live in darkness – the people had failed to bear the fruit of the Kingdom – so they determined to kill the son – and then judgment will come and destroy them.
We have been looking at Jesus’ Journey to the Cross – and essentially – they have all been completed – we just have the final frame – the final scene, where He is arrested and hung from a cross. He is pronouncing judgment on the religious leaders – and He is also teaching His disciples about His kingdom – so what are the lessons He is teaching –
What happened to Israel?
Why did they reject the King?
Why did they lose the Kingdom?
They did not produce the fruit. They were alive on the outside, dead on the inside – like the bad tree rather than the good tree – and He has all of these phrases. They had the appearance of faith but not the reality. This holds true for many today.
There are so many people who attend some form of religious service – so many who would claim Christianity who have never ‘taken up the cross’ – like we looked at last week – it is outward, not producing fruit. So how and why do we prevent that and transform that?
First, the people of Israel had improper expectations of what the messiah would be like. Why? Because of expectations – they developed an improper narrative. They replaced God’s story with their own story. We have made up our own stories and narratives. He is changing the disciples’ story about Him. All of us have stories – narratives – running around in our heads – and they shape and form who we are. You are the product of your stories.
“If you want to be happy – you will have this car, drink this beer, have the latest technology” – it is funny – but it is a narrative that shapes all of us! – we do think we need to have to be satisfied in this country. Some of these come from our culture and context – they shape and form you more than you realize.
They also shape us through events in our lives that are life-shaping. They may be difficult. When these events happen, we don’t remember all of the specifics – but our minds turn these into stories that shape us.
As a child – say someone is abused by an authority figure. The child will not remember all of the details – but the child writes a story – and it may go like this – Authorities cannot be trusted – they are after me and want to hurt me – or maybe your parents failed to meet a need in your life – and you write this story – and then turn it on God. “Authority cannot be trusted; God cannot be trusted – He will turn on me.” These stories shape how we view God. Israel had created a wrong story about God – and led them down the wrong path.
Tozer: “What you think about when you think about God is the most important thing about you.”
I agree with that – it determines who you are – it forms your destiny, creates your character, and fulfills your calling. This process of transformation begins by coming up with the proper story about God. We are trying to discover the real story about God.
I think that story begins with the life of Christ. The Bible is clear – God reveals Himself through nature, through His Word – BUT – He revealed Himself through Jesus – and what we need to learn to do – to go to Jesus – look INTO the life of Christ – and in that, we see in Him – that simple gospel message I gave a little bit ago:
Who is God?
How do you see God?
Do you see Him Biblically? (The one who loves you and is holy and will judge and is faithful in every way)
Who are you in relationship to God? Where do you fit? How do you view your relationship with Him? Is it correct?
Third – How do you fit into that grand narrative of God? What is your place? What we need to learn to do – write our new story around those things. Who God is – our relationship with Him – and our ambassadorship for Him – to follow in the journey He went on – to pick up our cross and move forward.

22 Jesus said to them, “Have faith in God. 23 I tell you the truth, if someone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24 For this reason I tell you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you your sins.”