April 12 & 13
PALM SUNDAY
Pastor Jason States
April 12 & 13, 2025
Small Group Study
SERMON RECAP
Spend a few minutes recapping this week's sermon together.
Tap here to view the sermon notes.
INTRODUCTION
We were created to worship the one true God, but at the fall, that instinct was broken. Other things now take the place of God in our lives, and we worship them instead. Jesus came as King to restore us to God and to restore our worship of God, as His triumphal entry into Jerusalem reveals. But we must be careful that we are worshiping Jesus for who He really is, not who we want Him to be.
UNDERSTANDING
HAVE A VOLUNTEER READ LUKE 19:28-34.
Jesus’ words and actions happened just as He described them, suggesting at a minimum that Jesus had prearranged His special transportation for Jerusalem, but more likely affirming His divine foreknowledge. Jesus choosing to use His disciples in this process demonstrates His desire to build their faith and trust in Him by showing them His glory. That the colt had never been ridden implies a kind of purity about the animal—that it had been specially set apart for the task at hand.
HAVE VOLUNTEER READ LUKE 19:35-40 AND MATTHEW 21:6-9.
Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey was the deliberate display of Israel’s king coming with God’s offer of peace. He was the Son of David chosen to sit on David’s throne. He was the One of whom the prophet Zechariah had spoken (Zech. 9:9). Yet it was no small irony that the people, by using palm branches in their celebration, were heralding Jesus as a political king, not the humble shepherd-king He was portraying Himself as. The palm branch was a significant symbol of military victory for the Jews, which means the people displayed them expecting Jesus to be their political or militaristic king. In chanting “Hosanna” (“save now”) along with other phrases from Psalm 118, the Jews were using a common patriotic or nationalistic cheer, another affirmation that the Jews looked to Jesus as their political savior.
Despite the joy and praise of the disciples, Jerusalem did not receive its king. Many people interpreted the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah to be about a national leader who would make Israel into a powerful nation again. The more evident it became that Jesus hadn’t come to lead as their earthly king and political hero, the more people turned their backs on Him.
The people’s joy at Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem echoed the angelic joy at Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem (Luke 2:3-14). However, in this scene of joyful celebration, a dark side was present as well. While others were caught up in the occasion of praise, the Pharisees felt threatened. So out of the same scene came praise and criticism. Jesus immediately answered them. On another occasion, Jesus had commanded silence (Luke 9:21) but not now, not on this occasion. If the disciples withheld their praise, Jesus said the stones would cry out in their place. Jesus was publicly presenting Himself to the nation, and God was determined this fact would be acknowledged. On this occasion Jesus was clearly proclaiming that He was Israel’s Messiah.
APPLICATION
PRAYER
Praise God for sending Christ to be the king we needed, not the king we wanted. Ask God to help your group worship Him with their whole lives.
—----------------------------------
ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE COMMENTARY
[for further reading on this passage]
LUKE 19:28-40
The Gospel of Luke is a carefully researched (Luke 1:3), selective presentation of the person and life of Jesus Christ, designed to strengthen the faith of believers (Luke 1:3-4) and to challenge the misconceptions of unbelievers, especially those from a Greek background. Its portrait of Jesus is well-balanced, skillfully emphasizing His divinity and perfect humanity.
Nearly 60 percent of the material in the Gospel of Luke is unique. Thus, there is a great deal that readers of Scripture would not know if the Third Gospel were not in the Bible. Notable among the larger distinctive portions are (1) much of the material in Luke 1-2 about the births of John the Baptist and Jesus, (2) the only biblical material on Jesus’ childhood and pre-ministry adult life (Luke 2:40-52), (3) a genealogy for Jesus (Luke 3:23-38) that is significantly different from the one in Matthew 1:1-17, (4) most of the “travelogue” section about Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem (9:51–19:44), (5) a considerably different slant on the destruction of the temple (Luke 21:5-38) from the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24–25 and Mark 13, and (6) quite a bit of fresh material in the post-resurrection appearances, including the Emmaus Road, a distinctive statement of the Great Commission, and the only description in the Gospels of Jesus’ ascension into heaven (24:13-53).
19:28. Jerusalem! The goal is attained. Now the tension mounts. How will the Messiah be received in God’s holy city? Have we been listening to what Jesus said? Are we ready for the events to follow in swift order? Jesus has established Himself as the King in the preceding narrative, but a King who had to go into the far country before returning in power. He has shown the nature of His kingdom—a kingdom different from that expected by the religious establishment. He had shown who would participate in the kingdom—those faithful to Him, who had given up everything to follow Him rather than those who had the religious system locked up in their own hands.
How would this idea of the kingdom play out? Jesus knew what would happen (9:22, 44-45; 12:49-50; 13:32-33; 17:25; 18:31-34). Still, the crowds and the disciples were not ready for Jerusalem, the city of David.
19:29. Approaching Jerusalem, Jesus passed through two small villages east of the holy city on the Mount of Olives, which looked down on the city and the Kidron Valley. The Mount of Olives, the central of three peaks rising east of Jerusalem, stands 2,660 feet above sea level. Standing on it, a person faced the temple. Zechariah 14:4-5 situates the final battle on the Mount of Olives (see Acts 1). The King stood with the holy city at His feet.
19:30-31. The King sent two of His disciples on a mission. Jesus acted in regal manner but commandeered a lowly animal.
19:32-35. Events occurred just as Jesus described. So the disciples brought the donkey to Jesus, threw their robes on it as a saddle, and set Jesus on it (see 1 Kgs. 1:33 for the coronation of Solomon on a mule). Zechariah 9:9 used poetic parallelism to describe the messianic King riding on a donkey to bring salvation to His people. His coming would break all instruments of war and bring peace to the city of peace.
19:30-34. The word kurios is the twenty-second most common word in the Greek New Testament and the third most common noun (after the words for “God” and “Jesus”). Kurios can mean “lord, master” (both with reference to either deity or humans), and even “sir” (see John 4:11; 5:7). In the Greek Old Testament, however, kurios was used to translate two significant Hebrew words: Yahweh (over six thousand times), the personal name for God (normally translated “Lord” or “God”); and adonai (over seven hundred times; over three hundred in reference to God), a title of respect and honor (normally translated “Lord/lord” or “Master/master”). Thus, two important ideas from the Old Testament carry over into the New Testament ‘s use of kurios: deity and lordship. Yahweh is God and demands absolute loyalty to Himself as Master. The New Testament teaches that Jesus, God’s Son, is deity and demands loyalty to Himself as absolute Lord—His deity being the basis of His lordship.
19:36-38. The disciples also spread their robes on the street, signifying a royal procession (2 Kgs. 9:13). The crowd of disciples, indicating a group beyond the Twelve, joined the procession, praising God for all the miraculous signs Jesus had given (7:22; 13:10-17; 14:1-6; 17:11-19; 18:35-43). They praised Jesus as king, citing Psalm 118:26. Finally, Jesus’ glory was openly recognized (1:32; 18:38-39). He was more than the babe of Nazareth or the Galilean rabbi. He was more than a miracle worker. He was a royal figure entering the royal city down the royal road. He came as God’s representative, God’s chosen King. He showed that the hopes of Israel were being fulfilled. God sent the messianic King to bring peace, a peace that only heaven can establish, and a peace established in heaven that cannot be negated on earth. This means that the angels who rejoice over one sinner who repents now see all the heavenly glory of God’s plan of salvation brought to fruition. As earthlings praise the King on a donkey, so heaven glories in God’s great work of salvation.
19:39. This was too much for the Pharisees. They came to crucify Jesus, not to praise Him. They asked Jesus to silence the disciples. “Do not let such blasphemy continue,” they said. They showed themselves to be the enemies of Jesus so aptly described in the previous parable.
19:40. If human voices were silent, nature would shout its praise. The Pharisees just do not understand the nature of the God they spend so much time talking about. They are evil servants as in the parable. The king has come. They see only a false teacher on a donkey. But for those who do see the King, praise is the language of the day. Such language will lead to eternal rewards and responsibility.
Pastor Jason States
April 12 & 13, 2025
Small Group Study
SERMON RECAP
Spend a few minutes recapping this week's sermon together.
Tap here to view the sermon notes.
- What was one takeaway from this week's sermon for you?
- Were there any stories, ideas, or points that stuck out?
- Was there anything that challenged you?
INTRODUCTION
- What experiences, images, and ideas come to mind when you think of the word worship?
- What is the difference between personal and corporate worship? Why are both of these important in expressing our need for God and desire to be with Him?
- What motivates you to worship in a personal manner? What motivates you to come to corporate worship on Sundays?
We were created to worship the one true God, but at the fall, that instinct was broken. Other things now take the place of God in our lives, and we worship them instead. Jesus came as King to restore us to God and to restore our worship of God, as His triumphal entry into Jerusalem reveals. But we must be careful that we are worshiping Jesus for who He really is, not who we want Him to be.
UNDERSTANDING
HAVE A VOLUNTEER READ LUKE 19:28-34.
- Do you think these unnamed disciples considered Jesus’ instructions odd? Why or why not?
- Do you think these disciples doubted anything that Jesus told them to expect?
- What might the fact that the colt had not yet been ridden imply about how the colt would be used? Read Zechariah 9:9 to help explore this question.
Jesus’ words and actions happened just as He described them, suggesting at a minimum that Jesus had prearranged His special transportation for Jerusalem, but more likely affirming His divine foreknowledge. Jesus choosing to use His disciples in this process demonstrates His desire to build their faith and trust in Him by showing them His glory. That the colt had never been ridden implies a kind of purity about the animal—that it had been specially set apart for the task at hand.
HAVE VOLUNTEER READ LUKE 19:35-40 AND MATTHEW 21:6-9.
- Why do you think Jesus chose a donkey for His triumphal entry to Jerusalem? Does that seem appropriate for someone perceived as a king by His people?
- Why do you think the people spread palm branches on the road?
- What does the phrase “Hosanna” mean? What did it communicate about the crowd’s expectations of Jesus?
Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey was the deliberate display of Israel’s king coming with God’s offer of peace. He was the Son of David chosen to sit on David’s throne. He was the One of whom the prophet Zechariah had spoken (Zech. 9:9). Yet it was no small irony that the people, by using palm branches in their celebration, were heralding Jesus as a political king, not the humble shepherd-king He was portraying Himself as. The palm branch was a significant symbol of military victory for the Jews, which means the people displayed them expecting Jesus to be their political or militaristic king. In chanting “Hosanna” (“save now”) along with other phrases from Psalm 118, the Jews were using a common patriotic or nationalistic cheer, another affirmation that the Jews looked to Jesus as their political savior.
- What were the people expecting Jesus to do when He reached Jerusalem (Luke 19:11 and Zech. 9:9)?
- How were the people’s expectations of the Messiah different from Jesus’ true intentions?
- When have your expectations about God been different from the way He has revealed Himself to you?
Despite the joy and praise of the disciples, Jerusalem did not receive its king. Many people interpreted the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah to be about a national leader who would make Israel into a powerful nation again. The more evident it became that Jesus hadn’t come to lead as their earthly king and political hero, the more people turned their backs on Him.
- Read verses 37-38 again. What did the people testify about Jesus in their praises? Why would this have upset the Pharisees (v. 39)?
- What does Jesus’ reply to the Pharisees reveal about Him?
- What might the stones cry out?
The people’s joy at Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem echoed the angelic joy at Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem (Luke 2:3-14). However, in this scene of joyful celebration, a dark side was present as well. While others were caught up in the occasion of praise, the Pharisees felt threatened. So out of the same scene came praise and criticism. Jesus immediately answered them. On another occasion, Jesus had commanded silence (Luke 9:21) but not now, not on this occasion. If the disciples withheld their praise, Jesus said the stones would cry out in their place. Jesus was publicly presenting Himself to the nation, and God was determined this fact would be acknowledged. On this occasion Jesus was clearly proclaiming that He was Israel’s Messiah.
- If you had been a Jew living in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus, what would have made you reject and oppose Jesus?
APPLICATION
- What expectations do we place on Christ today? Do we think of Him as a power that will serve our desires or do we see Him as the Lord who is worthy of our worship?
- What does praise look like in your day-to-day life? In what ways might you reject Jesus, even unintentionally?
- How is Jesus received by our community today? Is the view we hold equal to Jesus as presented in Scripture?
PRAYER
Praise God for sending Christ to be the king we needed, not the king we wanted. Ask God to help your group worship Him with their whole lives.
—----------------------------------
ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE COMMENTARY
[for further reading on this passage]
LUKE 19:28-40
The Gospel of Luke is a carefully researched (Luke 1:3), selective presentation of the person and life of Jesus Christ, designed to strengthen the faith of believers (Luke 1:3-4) and to challenge the misconceptions of unbelievers, especially those from a Greek background. Its portrait of Jesus is well-balanced, skillfully emphasizing His divinity and perfect humanity.
Nearly 60 percent of the material in the Gospel of Luke is unique. Thus, there is a great deal that readers of Scripture would not know if the Third Gospel were not in the Bible. Notable among the larger distinctive portions are (1) much of the material in Luke 1-2 about the births of John the Baptist and Jesus, (2) the only biblical material on Jesus’ childhood and pre-ministry adult life (Luke 2:40-52), (3) a genealogy for Jesus (Luke 3:23-38) that is significantly different from the one in Matthew 1:1-17, (4) most of the “travelogue” section about Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem (9:51–19:44), (5) a considerably different slant on the destruction of the temple (Luke 21:5-38) from the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24–25 and Mark 13, and (6) quite a bit of fresh material in the post-resurrection appearances, including the Emmaus Road, a distinctive statement of the Great Commission, and the only description in the Gospels of Jesus’ ascension into heaven (24:13-53).
19:28. Jerusalem! The goal is attained. Now the tension mounts. How will the Messiah be received in God’s holy city? Have we been listening to what Jesus said? Are we ready for the events to follow in swift order? Jesus has established Himself as the King in the preceding narrative, but a King who had to go into the far country before returning in power. He has shown the nature of His kingdom—a kingdom different from that expected by the religious establishment. He had shown who would participate in the kingdom—those faithful to Him, who had given up everything to follow Him rather than those who had the religious system locked up in their own hands.
How would this idea of the kingdom play out? Jesus knew what would happen (9:22, 44-45; 12:49-50; 13:32-33; 17:25; 18:31-34). Still, the crowds and the disciples were not ready for Jerusalem, the city of David.
19:29. Approaching Jerusalem, Jesus passed through two small villages east of the holy city on the Mount of Olives, which looked down on the city and the Kidron Valley. The Mount of Olives, the central of three peaks rising east of Jerusalem, stands 2,660 feet above sea level. Standing on it, a person faced the temple. Zechariah 14:4-5 situates the final battle on the Mount of Olives (see Acts 1). The King stood with the holy city at His feet.
19:30-31. The King sent two of His disciples on a mission. Jesus acted in regal manner but commandeered a lowly animal.
19:32-35. Events occurred just as Jesus described. So the disciples brought the donkey to Jesus, threw their robes on it as a saddle, and set Jesus on it (see 1 Kgs. 1:33 for the coronation of Solomon on a mule). Zechariah 9:9 used poetic parallelism to describe the messianic King riding on a donkey to bring salvation to His people. His coming would break all instruments of war and bring peace to the city of peace.
19:30-34. The word kurios is the twenty-second most common word in the Greek New Testament and the third most common noun (after the words for “God” and “Jesus”). Kurios can mean “lord, master” (both with reference to either deity or humans), and even “sir” (see John 4:11; 5:7). In the Greek Old Testament, however, kurios was used to translate two significant Hebrew words: Yahweh (over six thousand times), the personal name for God (normally translated “Lord” or “God”); and adonai (over seven hundred times; over three hundred in reference to God), a title of respect and honor (normally translated “Lord/lord” or “Master/master”). Thus, two important ideas from the Old Testament carry over into the New Testament ‘s use of kurios: deity and lordship. Yahweh is God and demands absolute loyalty to Himself as Master. The New Testament teaches that Jesus, God’s Son, is deity and demands loyalty to Himself as absolute Lord—His deity being the basis of His lordship.
19:36-38. The disciples also spread their robes on the street, signifying a royal procession (2 Kgs. 9:13). The crowd of disciples, indicating a group beyond the Twelve, joined the procession, praising God for all the miraculous signs Jesus had given (7:22; 13:10-17; 14:1-6; 17:11-19; 18:35-43). They praised Jesus as king, citing Psalm 118:26. Finally, Jesus’ glory was openly recognized (1:32; 18:38-39). He was more than the babe of Nazareth or the Galilean rabbi. He was more than a miracle worker. He was a royal figure entering the royal city down the royal road. He came as God’s representative, God’s chosen King. He showed that the hopes of Israel were being fulfilled. God sent the messianic King to bring peace, a peace that only heaven can establish, and a peace established in heaven that cannot be negated on earth. This means that the angels who rejoice over one sinner who repents now see all the heavenly glory of God’s plan of salvation brought to fruition. As earthlings praise the King on a donkey, so heaven glories in God’s great work of salvation.
19:39. This was too much for the Pharisees. They came to crucify Jesus, not to praise Him. They asked Jesus to silence the disciples. “Do not let such blasphemy continue,” they said. They showed themselves to be the enemies of Jesus so aptly described in the previous parable.
19:40. If human voices were silent, nature would shout its praise. The Pharisees just do not understand the nature of the God they spend so much time talking about. They are evil servants as in the parable. The king has come. They see only a false teacher on a donkey. But for those who do see the King, praise is the language of the day. Such language will lead to eternal rewards and responsibility.