Palm Sunday: The King is Coming Acts 4:23-31; John 12:12-15

Palm Sunday: The King is Coming!

Acts 4:23-31; John 12:12-15

Introduction:  Palm Sunday. It was near the end of His three years of public ministry. The miracles and healings Jesus did stood as undeniable evidence, confirming His teaching with authority. And Calvary loomed, less than a week away. The triumphal entry, the day we celebrate as Palm Sunday, was a moment of contradictions. The people were right to acknowledge Jesus as king, but they had no idea of what that really meant.  They were still hampered by a wrong idea of what the messiah had come to do, they were still looking for a political or military deliverer like David or Solomon who would usher in a kingdom on earth of blessing and abundance and security. So they rejected Him, this carpenter’s son and friend of sinners. And so Jesus told his disciples not to be surprised if the world hates you, He said, “It hated me first.” As surely as Jesus was ultimately rejected by His own, we can expect pain in this life (after all we live in a fallen world, infected  by sin, in rebellion against God!). How is that for a recruitment line: “If you want to be my disciple, take up your cross and follow me!”  He said, “You will have tribulation!” Even so, cheer up, Jesus wins, so the best is yet to come! 

       I’ve decided today to stay in our series in Acts for this Palm Sunday, for the message of Palm Sunday is at the heart of the scene we are looking at here in Acts 4 as the disciples, arrested and threatened and now released, re-join their friends for a time of prayer. The issue at the triumphal entry was the kingship of Jesus wrongly understood, the heart of the disciples’ prayer in Acts 4 is the kingship of Jesus rightly understood.  As Jesus entered Jerusalem that first Palm Sunday He allowed the crowd to praise Him as the coming King, even though the people didn’t understand the full meaning of their own words. He is King after all, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  But He came as the Passover King, the Servant King, who would lay down His life for His friends. The rejection of Jesus that led  to the cross has now become persecution of His followers. As the disciples gather for prayer in Acts 4 they get it right: they see a connection between King Jesus’ suffering and their present crisis. The world is in conflict with God and His Kingdom, as Psalm 2 tells us the nations rage “against the Lord and against His Anointed.” Let’s see how the disciples respond. Let’s remember how Jesus responded.  Let’s consider how we should receive Him and how we should respond when trials come.

Big Idea: Crises will come, but take heart: Jesus is Lord, He hears us, He is with us, He speaks through His Word, and He sends us in His power.  

I. In the midst of crisis we need to pray, acknowledging His Kingship (4:23-24). Know that He is Lord and come to Him!  In John 12, after Jesus was anointed at Bethany with precious ointment “for the day of His burial…”, after we are told that the Jewish leadership was plotting his death, in fulfillment of Scripture He rides on a donkey’s colt into Jerusalem.  We read, in John 12:12-15,

“The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.  ¹³ So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!’  ¹⁴ And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,  ¹⁵ ‘Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt!’"

On that first Palm Sunday, the crowds cited Scripture, and seemed to acknowledge Jesus as the fulfillment of the promise of a coming King.  Ironically, they were correct, He is king, the Creator and Lord of all creation! In our passage in Acts 4 the disciples have been arrested and threatened, ordered to stop speaking about Jesus. How would they respond?

  First of all, they went to their friends, their brothers and sisters in Christ. We read in Acts 4:23, “When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them.” They went to their friends! This is a beautiful illustration of the family of God at work. Notice that the disciples did not try to stick it out alone.  They didn’t take an “every man for himself” attitude and get out of Dodge while they could. They knew they were part of a family, the Body of Christ, so they went to their brothers and sisters for encouragement, support, comfort, and prayer. Remember the “one anothers” of the New Testament? Love one another, forgive one another, encourage one another, bear one another’s burdens, pray for one another, build each other up. We are made for community, as part of a family, mutually interdependent. We need each other, and we are needed. That is why the writer to the Hebrews urges us to “…not forsake the assembling…” of ourselves together.  

  Secondly, we see the believers praying together, with “one voice”: “And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said…” They came together to pray, they lifted their voice together to God in agreement, asking Him for his help.  When we pray, what does that imply about our theology? We believe that God hears, that He is able, that He cares, and that He works through prayer.

 Notice also that as they pray, they acknowledge God’s sovereignty, that is, His Kingship. He is the creator of the universe, it all belongs to Him. They address Him as "Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them…”  He is the King, and He promises His presence. He invites us into His throne room where we can cast our burdens upon Him.   So crises will come, but take heart: Jesus is Lord, He hears us, He is with us, He speaks through His Word, and He sends us in His power.

II. In the midst of crisis we need to believe God, taking Him at His Word (25-26).  Believe in Him, Believe Him! As the disciples pray they quote Scripture, considering their situation in light of what God has said.

             First of all, they voice their faith in God, acknowledging that He has spoken: “…who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit…” God spoke, by the Spirit, through the mouth of David. The good news is that we don’t have to wonder what God is like: The one true God, the God who is, the great I AM, has spoken.  He has revealed Himself first of all through Moses and the prophets, and in these last days, in His Son (Hebrews 1:1,2). Since He is God, He speaks with authority and He speaks absolute truth, He is all knowing.

 The quotation at the beginning of their prayer is from Psalm 2:1,2, "Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain?  ²⁶ The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed…” The word “anointed,” in this citation in Acts is the Greek word “Christ,” in the Hebrew Bible it is the word “Messiah.”  Psalm 2 anticipates the enthronement of the Great King, the Son of God, and recognizes that the world is in rebellion against Him. Notice that as the disciples quote this, they understand the root of the hatred they are experiencing. Jesus had warned them, “Do not be surprised if the world hates you, remember that it hated me first…”

Palm Sunday, what a day of contradiction and contrast!  Jesus rode into town on the donkey’s colt, and He is acknowledged by some as Lord and King! Yet, the rulers are already plotting His death. He is Lord, yet the Scriptures revealed His rejection long ago, including this verse in Psalm 2. The rebellion was against the Lord and His Christ.

 God has given us His word to encourage us in the face of trials, to help us understand a little better the truth about the world in which we live. What the disciples discerned as they began to experience persecution is still true today.  Don’t be surprised if the world hates you! It hated Him first.   Yes, crises will come, but take heart: Jesus is Lord! And He hears us, He is with us, He speaks through His Word, and He sends us in His power.

III. In the midst of crisis we need to understand that God is in control (27-28). At this moment, in retrospect, the disciples could see God’s hand working through the passion of Christ… They were in another crisis now, and could find hope looking back on the cross.

  First we see the rebellion of humans (v.27): “…for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel…”  The Roman authorities and the Jewish leaders didn’t agree on a lot, but they did finally agree to get rid of Jesus. As the disciples are praying, they see this as a direct fulfillment of Psalm 2:1,2.

  In the same sentence we see the Plan of God (v.28) “…to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.” Their actions and their hatred of Jesus was culpable, and God used their evil intentions to accomplish His sovereign purpose: ultimately, the redemption of a people for himself. That is us!  Crises will come, but take heart: Jesus is Lord, He hears us, He is with us, He speaks through His Word, and He sends us in His power.

IV. In the midst of crisis we need to stay focused on our mission (29-31). We have a message to share with the nations. They might not like it. Most will reject it. And yes, some will reject us for telling the truth. We need to stay focused on our mission. The disciples did. They prayed for God to work, and they prayed for boldness to testify to the truth.

  Let’s be honest. What would you have prayed for in this situation? What would I have prayed for? Safety? Protection? Relocation to a safer place?  “Lord, could it be that I sense you calling me to a less hostile environment?” No, instead we see a prayer for boldness to stay on task, focused on mission, “And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness…” 

  The second part is interesting in that it seems to be a prayer marked by faith, notice their confidence in God’s work: “…while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus."  It seems they are praying for courage to do their part, speaking God’s word, being His witness, while God does the work of confirming His word through works of power. We know you’ll do your part Lord, give us courage and boldness to keep being your witnesses!

  As Luke, the writer of Acts, includes this story in his account of the early church, I think he is telling Theophilus, and other readers of this book, that God answers prayers. Remember that this is a key theme that Luke emphasizes in both his gospel and in Acts.  Luke, more than the other gospel writers, emphasized the fact that Jesus taught his disciples about prayer in word and by example. Jesus taught them about prayer and we are told that He himself withdrew and spent time in prayer before every pivotal moment of his life and ministry.  And now, in volume 2 of his writing, here in Acts we see again that they have learned the lesson well.  In the face of threats of violence and opposition, they go to God in prayer.  Prayer offered in humble submission to His will, in the name of Jesus, will be heard. This is a prayer that God answers: “And when they had prayed, the place… was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.” We might have imagined these men praying differently or for different things. They don’t even ask to be filled with the Spirit. They understand He is present. So they ask for boldness to speak, and they are filled with the presence of God in the Spirit and empowered to be His witnesses.

What is God saying to me in this passage? At the Triumphal Entry, the First Palm Sunday, they people called Jesus “King” even though they didn’t understand that in a few days the King would be rejected and crucified. After Pentecost His followers came to understand His kingship through the prism of the Cross and Resurrection. He was the Servant King, the Passover King, who laid down His life for His friends, and rose again the third day.  Crises will come, but take heart: Jesus is Lord, He hears us, He is with us, He speaks through His Word, and it is He who sends us in His power. In the midst of crises we need to pray, acknowledging His kingship, He is Lord! And we need to believe Him, taking Him at His Word, understanding that He is in control, and staying focused on the mission He has entrusted to us.

What would God have me to do in response to this passage? Are you facing a time of crisis right now? Maybe you’ve just come through one, maybe it will start tomorrow. In the world you will have tribulation.  The good news is that God is with us, and we have a high priest who understands and sympathizes with our weaknesses. We are the King’s kids. He invites us to pray. We’re never alone, nothing takes Him by surprise, in fact He will work all things together for your good, and for His glory. Most amazing of all, He sends us as His witnesses. 

We have a resource table in the back, including a short book called “The Essential Jesus.” It’s the Gospel of Luke, with an introduction putting the story of Jesus in the context of the big picture of the Bible. And it ends with an invitation, a call to respond to Him. I would invite you to take a copy, and to share it with someone in your sphere of influence, perhaps with an invitation to join us for Easter next week.  Pray about that, and know that the same God who answered the prayer of the disciples is God today.  Father grant us boldness, to be your witnesses.   AMEN.