Scripture: Mark 11:1-11
Sermon: Palm Sunday – 2025

Do you love a parade? I remember the first parade I ever went to. Friends invited me to go with them to the Atlanta July 4^th parade.

Over the years our family has attended a lot of parades but the one we’ll never forget, and they may not yet have forgiven me for, is the Detroit Thanksgiving Day Parade. It was so cold! There was one small store open that we’d go into to get warm and to use the bathroom. It turned out great, but it was unforgettable.

When I mention the word “parade” what comes to your mind? What’s your favorite parade? Maybe you like The Rose Bowl Parade on New Year’s Day. Lots of people love the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. I was curious to discover where the world’s largest parade is held. According to Google, the world’s largest parade takes place every year in Germany. It’s the Hannover Schutzenfest Parade. Shutzenfest means a festival of shooting. It’s a marksman competition that’s been held annually since the 16^th century. The parade is 7 ½ miles long with 10,000 participants, half of which are marksmen there to compete. There are 100 marching bands and over 1.5 million spectators. Now that’s a parade!

Today we’re talking about A Parade Fit for a King. When Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the roads leading to Jerusalem were filled with spectators watching the thousands of visitors who came to Jerusalem. In the Gospel of John we read, The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem (John 12:12). Every Jewish man and his family was expected to attend the Passover festival. So, every spring, Jews from all over the world flocked to Jerusalem. But Jesus didn’t come to Jerusalem to commemorate the Passover Lamb who was slain. He entered Jerusalem to become the Passover Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

The Romans often conducted a census so they could collect taxes. We know from Roman records that Jerusalem had a population of about 20,000. During Passover, thousands more flocked to Jerusalem.

Flavius Josephus a Jewish historian, wrote about how many people crowded into Jerusalem: “Cestius, the Roman governor of Palestine, attempted to impress Emperor Nero that the Passover was an important feast for the Jews, and to do this he ordered the high priest to count the actual number of lambs that were sacrificed at Passover in the year A.D. 65. Cestius quoted the high priest as giving him a figure of 256,500 lambs that were offered for sacrifice.” With one lamb per family and multiply that by a factor of two or three. It’s possible there were over 750,000 who came to Jerusalem for the Passover.

The Jews who came for Passover stayed for eight full days. So, they were crowded into the city and onto all the land surrounding Jerusalem.

This morning let’s gather with the disciples and follow Jesus. There are four important lessons we can learn from A Parade Fit for a King.

1. Jesus shows the value of working together by sending two disciples. 

It’s easy to read this passage many times and fail to pay attention to that small detail. Going and getting a colt sounds like an easy job for one man, but for some reason Jesus sent two disciples. If you look at other passages when Jesus sent disciples out on a job. He never sent them alone. Jesus always paired them up. He sent out seventy disciples two-by-two. On another occasion He sent out the twelve two-by-two. In Mark 14 He sends two disciples to make preparations for the Passover meal.

Jesus sent them out in pairs for a very practical reason. It helps with partnership and companionship. Then, one might be older and more experienced and could teach and mentor the younger one. When you go out with another disciple there can be accountability and encouragement.

When we go to the Book of Acts, we see this same model. We talk about Paul’s missionary journeys, but Paul always traveled with a team. Paul and Barnabas went out together as the first missionaries from Antioch.

There are some beautiful words in Ecclesiastes usually only read at weddings, but this principle applies to every area of our lives. Solomon observed, “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10).

Every Christian should have a spiritual partner, a prayer partner or ministry partner. Let me encourage you to seek out a wiser, more mature Christian and ask if they’ll mentor or disciple you. And mature believers need to seek out a younger or newer Christ-follower and take them under your wing to disciple them. In the Christian life there are no Lone Rangers—and even the Lone Ranger had Tonto!

Who’s your spiritual partner, your spiritual friend who helps you in your walk with Jesus? It needs to be someone other than your spouse.

2. Jesus identifies Himself as the Messiah by riding on a donkey. 

This was an unusual entrance for Jesus. The Lord had visited Jerusalem many times during His life. There were three festivals a year every Jewish man was supposed to attend: Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. But before this Passover Parade, Jesus had always slipped quietly into the city without drawing any attention to Himself. But Jesus knew that this was the time. He’d be entering the city the last time during His humanity. He gave careful instructions for His disciples to bring Him a particular colt. Matthew points out that this colt was the foal of a donkey.

Jesus chose this donkey intentionally. Why didn’t He ride in on a stallion? A beautiful horse is a magnificent animal. It has large, beautiful eyes, a flowing mane, a shining coat, and long graceful legs.

A donkey isn’t a thoroughbred horse. It’s a plain, small, ugly animal. Nobody ever called a donkey beautiful. They have floppy ears that are too large, and sad eyes, like Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh. And when a donkey lets out a loud bray, it usually makes us laugh. In Jesus’ day, horses were the Ferraris; donkeys were the used Honda Civics.

Why did Jesus ride a donkey? Jesus chose this donkey to fulfill an Old Testament prophecy. 500 years before Zechariah prophesied, “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9).

A typical king would arrive in great pomp and circumstance. Three centuries earlier, Alexander the Great swept through the region, conquering all the surrounding cities. When he arrived at the outskirts of Jerusalem, the High Priest and Jewish leaders went out to meet him.

According to Josephus, the priests showed Alexander the scroll of the prophet, Daniel where he predicted that a mighty Grecian king would defeat the Medes and Persians. Josephus wrote that Alexander entered Jerusalem with much fanfare. One picture shows Him in a golden chariot pulled by an elephant. Alexander visited the Temple and spared the city and only demanded tribute be paid for seven years.

But Jesus didn’t enter the city in a golden chariot or on a mighty stallion. He entered the city riding on a lowly donkey. He was showing the city he was coming not as a conquering king, but as a prince of peace.

3. Jesus recognizes empty praise. 

Once when the Saudi King, Salman, visited Washington, he landed in his luxury jumbo jet at Andrews Air Force Base. There were about 100 brand-new Mercedes lined up to transport his entourage to the Georgetown Four Seasons Hotel. The Four Seasons underwent a $13 million facelift in preparation for his visit. The king booked all 222 rooms of the facility. There was so much red carpet rolled out that the manager of the hotel said that the king’s feet would never touch concrete or asphalt.

That’s what these people were doing for Jesus. They were rolling out the red carpet because they believed He would be the next great king. As Jesus entered the city they shouted, Hosanna! which means “save us NOW!” They shouted, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our Father David.

The crowds expected Jesus to deliver them from the iron-fisted rule of the Romans. They believed this miracle worker could perform His greatest miracle ever and restore Israel to the greatness it enjoyed when King David sat on the throne. They were looking for a military and economic king.

They were celebrating His arrival. But I don’t think Jesus was experiencing any joy. I don’t think He was smiling and waving to the crowds. Jesus knew these same people yelling “Hail him!” would be crying “Nail him!” in just a few days. The same fickle crowd shouting, “Crown him!” would be crying, “Crucify him!” in a few days.

Jesus recognized it was empty praise. In Matthew’s account, He quotes Isaiah’s warning, “These people come near to Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is made up only of rules taught by men’” (Isaiah 29:13)

Some people think that they’re honoring God when they obey a set of religious rules. They can sing songs from memory and quote the Bible and the creeds, but if it’s only lip service, God isn’t honored. God wants your heart. He wants you to express your love for Him from your heart.

This really wasn’t the triumphal entry many people call it. It really was a tearful entry. Luke tells us that in the middle of the Passover Parade Jesus stopped on the road and looked across the Kidron Valley at the city of Jerusalem. I can imagine the crowd got quiet and wondered why He’d stopped. Then Jesus began to weep loudly over Jerusalem. He said, If you had only known on this day what would bring you peace, Not peace from the Romans but personal peace. The end isn’t going to be pretty, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you (Luke 19:42-44).

4. Jesus came to change lives, not a political situation. 

About 200 years earlier, Judas Maccabees, nicknamed “The Hammer,” raised a Jewish army and led a successful rebellion to overthrow the Greeks and reclaim Jerusalem. In 163 B.C. he rode into Jerusalem on a magnificent stallion. People lined the streets waving palm branches and shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”

The Temple was re-consecrated, and to this day, our Jewish friends celebrate Hanukkah to commemorate this victory. Many of the Jews believed Judas the Hammer was the mighty Messiah. But three years later Judas was killed in battle and was buried…he’s still dead and buried.

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the Jews were looking for another military Messiah to deliver them from the Romans. But Jesus rode a donkey to show he wasn’t a hammer; He was a Redeemer. A radical revolutionary kills others for his cause, but a loving redeemer lays down His life so others may live.

The crowd turned on Jesus. He didn’t fulfill their expectations of a Messiah. They were looking for a military hero to deliver them from the hated Romans. They were looking for a general like Judas the Hammer. Over the next few days, it became obvious Jesus wasn’t a military leader. He was a suffering servant who’d be handed over to the Romans. In their minds, He failed them, so they turned on Him in vicious rejection.

When Jesus was arrested and handed to Pilate, Pilate asked Him if He was a king. Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place” (John 18:36).

Jesus is a King of an eternal Kingdom. Those of us who follow Him are His subjects in the Kingdom of God.

It seems like we’re never done with some election or political process. Have you ever wondered about the politics of Jesus?

There were plenty of political parties during the day of Jesus. The Pharisees were the staunch ultra-conservatives who hated the Romans. The Sadducees were the liberals who got in bed with the Romans, so they had all the prime appointed positions. The Essenes were the true independents who thought both the Pharisees and Sadducees were of the devil.

Jesus’ enemies tried to get Him to speak out against the Roman government. When they asked Him about paying taxes, He took a coin and said, Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and give to God what is God’s. He said, If a Roman soldier compels you to carry his pack one mile, carry it two miles.

Jesus refused to get involved in man’s politics. That’s because He was God in the flesh. Lest you misunderstand me, while we have freedom in America, we should be engaged in the political process. We need believers to run for political office and should vote for those who govern from moral absolutes. But that’s not our greatest need or should be our focus! For too many Christians politics has become idolatry.  

Our greatest need is a heart change, this world’s greatest need is the gospel. We need to know true change will never start in the White House. It will start in the Church House. Our salvation isn’t coming on Air Force One. Our salvation is Jesus Christ who will return as King of Kings and Lord of Lords! Too many Christians are focused on the wrong government.

Conclusion

I have a personal application question that I’d like for you to answer: When Jesus enters your life, what are you willing to lay down before Him? At the Passover Parade, people laid things down on the pathway before Jesus. Some people laid down palm branches. Others laid down their coats. Those who laid down palm branches didn’t sacrifice much. They just cut a palm branch off and laid it on the trail.

But what happened to those who put their coats down in front of a parade? You try that at some parade sometime. Take your nicest coat and lay it down on the street in front of the parade. You won’t have much of a coat left after the parade passes. The people who laid down their coats before Jesus were making a sacrifice.  

Jesus doesn’t just enter your life when you’re born again. He enters your life every moment. He wants to be your constant king. He doesn’t want your coats. Scripture does teach that God appreciates every sacrifice that we make for Him.

Do you know why God created you? He created you to do what those people in Jerusalem did that day. He created you to praise Him. The Bible says in 1 Peter 2:9, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.”

What’s keeping you from laying it all down for the King? What’s keeping you from surrendering it all to Him? What’s keeping you from praising the King? Is it pride? Lay it down before Him today. Is it fear? Lay it down before Him. Is it pain? Lay it down before Him. Is it apathy? Whatever it is that keeps you from surrendering and offering Him the sacrifice of praise, lay it down before Him today and don’t pick it up again. Will you make a commitment to honor the King of Kings and Lord of Lords?

The Lord Jesus was the focus of two parades that week in Jerusalem. First, there was the Passover where He was praised. The second parade would be the Via Dolorosa, the way of suffering. Jesus would be carrying His cross. Instead of a day of cheers; it would be a day of tears and jeers. With Good Friday we’re going to follow Jesus in the streets of Jerusalem as He heads toward a cross and an empty tomb.

Jesus came to be our King. If He’s the King of your life, there must be surrender to Him.

Bruce Larson tells how he’s helped people struggling to surrender their lives to Christ. He writes:

“For many years I worked in New York City and counseled at my office any number of people who were wrestling with this yes-or-no decision. Often, I would suggest they walk with me from my office down to the RCA Building on Fifth Avenue. In the entrance of that building is a gigantic statue of Atlas, a beautifully proportioned man who, with all his muscles straining, is holding the world upon his shoulders. There he is, the most powerfully built man in the world, and he can barely stand up under this burden. ‘Now that’s one way to live,’ I would point out to my companion, ‘trying to carry the world on your shoulders. But now come across the street with me.’

“On the other side of Fifth Avenue is Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, and there behind the high altar is a little shrine of the boy Jesus, perhaps eight or nine years old, and with no effort he is holding the world in one hand.

My point was illustrated graphically. “We have a choice. We can carry the world on our shoulders, or we can say, ‘I give up, Lord; here’s my life. I give you my world, the whole world.'”

Are you trying to carry the world? It can’t be done. Or will you surrender and let Jesus carry you? The choice is yours. Will He be your King?