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This Passion Week also known as Holy Week which takes place on Palm Sunday (March 25), which is the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem also marks the start of Holy Week. This commences the final days of Jesus earthly ministry. This week represents the passion with which Jesus willingly went to the cross. Jesus' Entry into Jerusalem. As Jesus rode into Jerusalem, the people spread their coats in front of Him and greeted Him with palm branches. It was a springtime Sunday in about the year 30 A.D. The holy city of Jerusalem was crowded with pilgrims who had come for the annual Passover celebration. Jesus had spent many months traveling through the towns and villages of Palestine. He preached about the kingdom of God and healed the sick wherever He went. Now the time had come for Him to claim His title as the Messiah - the Savior that God had promised to the Jewish people.Jesus knew His mission was almost finished. As they traveled to Jerusalem, Jesus warned His disciples that He would soon be put to death, and after three days He would rise again.As they came near Jerusalem, Jesus told two of His disciples to go into a nearby village and bring a donkey that would be waiting there. Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the donkey. Crowds of people spread their coats on the ground in front of Him. Some waved branches of palm trees, a sign of victory. “The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out:“Hosanna!‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ The King of Israel!” (John 12:12-13).
Jesus Triumphal Entry:
In the temple, where He taught the people, healed them, and drove out the money-changers and merchants who had made His Father’s house a “den of robbers” (Mark 11:17). The story of the triumphal entry is one of contrasts, and those contrasts contain applications to believers. It is the story of the King who came as a lowly servant on a donkey, not a prancing steed, not in royal robes, but on the clothes of the poor and humble. Jesus Christ comes not to conquer by force as earthly kings but by love, grace, mercy, and His own sacrifice for His people. His is not a kingdom of armies and splendor but of lowliness and servanthood. He conquers not nations but hearts and minds. His message is one of peace with God, not of temporal peace. If Jesus has made a triumphal entry into our hearts, He reigns there in peace and love. As His followers, we exhibit those same qualities, and the world sees the true King living and reigning in triumph in us.
Cleansing the Temple
Jesus went to the temple once He got into Jerusalem, and He didn't like what He saw. This most holy of places had been turned into a marketplace. Merchants were selling animals for temple sacrifices. Money changers were exchanging the pilgrims' money for special coins used in the temple. Many of these people were cheating the pilgrims who came to celebrate Passover in Jerusalem.
Teaching and Healing:
Jesus turned over the seats of the merchants and the tables of the money changers, scattering their coins. He told them all to leave. It is written, 'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations', But you have made it a den of robbers! He made a whip of some cords and used it to drive out the animals. He said, The crowds of people who came to hear Him were spellbound. Jesus went to the temple every day. Blind people, crippled people and sick people came to Him, and He healed all of them. He told stories and parables to help people understand the kingdom of God and God's love for all people. These parables were to help the listeners discover and rediscover and better understand; we are better able to apply what He has for us and our church. So, Jesus teaches us in a way that illustrates a point that will showcase a more profound point when we are ready for it.
HOSANNAN! HOSANNA! HOSANNA!
Today we celebrate the day called “Palm Sunday,” the day of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem one week prior to his crucifixion and death. In case some of you are wondering why this is called “Palm Sunday”, it’s because according to the Gospel of John the crowds in Jerusalem came out to greet Jesus carrying palm branches, which they either waved or strewed in his path.We have two independent accounts of Jesus’ triumphal entry, one in the Gospel of Mark and the other in the Gospel of John. Historically speaking, this is very important, since one of the most important proofs of the historicity of some event is the existence of independent accounts of the same event. As Christians we believe in the inspiration of the New Testament by God and so we know, wholly apart from historical evidence, that these accounts were not made up. But, still, it’s a joy to know that even when you consider the Gospels as just ordinary historical documents, they pass the tests of reliability which secular historians use. This can strengthen our confidence in their truth and give us a way of commending their truth to our non-Christian friends who have not yet come to believe in the inspiration of the Bible.