Hosanna to Crucify Him: The Fickleness of the Crowd

In one paragraph

Palm Sunday this year landed in the middle of the church's walk through Ephesians, and the pastor decided to do both. The first half of the message stayed with the triumphal entry in John 12, and the second half picked up Ephesians 3 from where the series had left off. The crowd that came out to meet Jesus as he entered Jerusalem was not simply a cheerful holiday gathering. They were a large crowd...

Read together

1. John 12 primary Palm Sunday text, the triumphal entry narrative
2. Psalm 118:25-26 identified as the source of the Hosanna cry, save us now
3. Zechariah prophecy of the king coming humble on a donkey, quoted as just as it is written in John
4. Amos 3:7 the lord does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets first
5. Psalm 118 the stone the builders rejected, the full latter portion read aloud as the triumphal entry song
6. Daniel 9:25 dispensational calculation of sixty-nine weeks of seven pointing to the triumphal entry
7. John 19 Pilate scourging Jesus, crown of thorns, crucify him cries
8. Ephesians 3 Paul as prisoner, the mystery revealed that Gentiles are fellow heirs through the gospel

Talk about it

1. The crowd that welcomed Jesus with palm branches wanted a military king to overthrow Rome, but Jesus entered humbly on a donkey and wept over Jerusalem instead. When has God answered a prayer or need of yours in a way that looked completely different from what you were expecting?
2. Pastor Mark pointed out that the disciples did not understand what was happening until after Jesus was glorified, and then they remembered what had been written. Has there been a time in your own life when you looked back and recognized that God had been at work in something you did not understand while you were in the middle of it?
3. The sermon described the same crowd who shouted Hosanna on Palm Sunday as essentially the same crowd crying for crucifixion days later, and used the word fickle to describe this pattern in human nature. Where do you see that kind of fickleness showing up in your own faith?
4. Paul describes his calling to preach to the Gentiles as a grace given to him, even referring to himself as the very least of all the saints. How does thinking of your role in the church as a grace rather than an achievement change the way you approach it?
5. The sermon said the multifaceted wisdom of God is now being made known through the church, and that the church is plan A with no plan B. What does it mean practically for this congregation to be the continuing body of Christ in Jackson right now?