Palm Sunday Reflections
This past Sunday was what many people call Palm Sunday. Traditionally it is a day when Christians remember Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Even for those who are familiar with the Gospel narratives, the crowds celebrating Jesus’ arrival at the beginning of the week offer a stark contrast to the bloodthirsty cries at the end of the week for His crucifixion. There’s a big difference between "Hosanna in the highest!” and “Crucify Him!” The Pharisees proved ready to seek Jesus’ death long before this moment. Nevertheless, Palm Sunday calls us to consider our response to Jesus.
While taking place one year prior, John 6 describes the same phenomenon—the fickleness of crowds and the mixed motivation of those who would follow Jesus. The narrative of John 6 commences with Jesus and His disciples being absolutely overwhelmed by the crowds of people seeking to see or experience one of the miracles Jesus was performing. So many people were coming and going that Jesus and His disciples did not even have time to eat! Jesus took His disciples up to the mountain to get away and seek solace in the Lord but the hordes followed them.
When Jesus saw the crowd following He decided to feed the multitude. In spite of the incredulity of His disciples at where to get the resources necessary to feed such a mass of people, Jesus seated the crowd, blessed the food, and began multiplying the five loaves and two fishes they were able to scrounge. John 6:11 tells us that everyone ate until they were full. The miracle was so complete that twelve baskets remained. The crowd, already enthralled by Jesus’ miracles were ready to form a mob and install Him as their new ruler. A man who could heal the sick and feed a multitude could do anything!
The crowd's intentions for Jesus were not part of God’s plan, and so Jesus withdrew and sent His disciples away as well. As they began the journey across the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum a storm came up that hampered the disciples’ ability to cross the water and threatened to overwhelm their boat. As they looked up in the middle of the storm, they noticed Jesus walking toward them right through the middle of the storm on the water. They were terrified at first but soon welcomed Him into the boat and the storm ceased and they reached their destination.
The crowds continued to follow Jesus and eventually they tracked Him down again. Their concern was how He got to that location, but Jesus’ main concern was their motivation in seeking Him. The lesson here is that even the most amazing miracle that Jesus did left people wanting more. The crowds followed Jesus because of what they perceived He could do for them rather than for who He is. People in the first century aren’t the only ones who seek Jesus as simply a means to an end. We can do this as well. Today we can seek Jesus because we want to feel better. We can seek Jesus because we want Him to give us direction. We can seek Jesus because we desire some other blessing. We must constantly guard our hearts to be sure Jesus is the one we are really seeking, not just what He can do for us. Jesus performed all of these miracles as a “sign” to point to Himself. The purpose of the sign is to direct us to the real destination. We can never forget this. Jesus needs to be the destination of our hearts.