What does First B Jackson teach about palm sunday?
Drawn from the messages where it was actually addressed: the words said from the front, the passages taught, and where to hear the whole thing.
At First B Jackson, the teaching on Palm Sunday consistently starts with the weight of what the crowd was actually doing when they came out to meet Jesus. The palm branches they waved were not decoration. Pastor Carl, Pastor Mark, Pastor Brian, and others have all traced those branches back through Hasmonean coins, the Maccabean revolt, and later Bar Kokhba rebellion coins stamped with the words 'for the freedom of Jerusalem.' The people shouting 'Hosanna,' a Hebrew cry from Psalm 118 meaning 'save us now,' were rallying for a military deliverer who would crush Roman occupation the way the Seleucids had been crushed generations before. They were right about needing saving. The teaching here is that they were wrong about what that would look like.
Jesus entered not on a war horse but on an unbroken donkey's colt, fulfilling what Zechariah had written long before. The disciples themselves did not understand that connection until after the resurrection, when they looked back and saw what had been in front of them the whole time. Jesus wept over Jerusalem as he approached it, saying the city did not know the things that make for peace. He was not coming for the war they wanted. Within a week, the same crowd that shouted 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord' was shouting 'Crucify him,' and Pilate, though he declared Jesus innocent repeatedly and even received a warning from his own wife, handed Jesus over anyway out of political fear. The teaching does not soften this. The word that comes up again and again across years of Palm Sunday messages here is 'fickle,' and it is applied honestly, not just to the first-century crowd but to us.
The thread that runs through all of these messages is God's faithfulness set against human fickleness. The Hallel psalms the pilgrims sang on the road to Jerusalem, particularly Psalms 117, 118, and 136, proclaim that God's steadfast love endures forever and that it was always meant to reach further than any one nation or group. The crowd with the palm branches had missed that. The victory Jesus was riding toward was not going to be over Rome. It was going to be over sin and death, and it was going to include people from every nation. That is what the psalm-singing pilgrims were carrying in their mouths without fully understanding what they were saying.
Taught from Psalm 118 · John 12 · Zechariah 9:9 · John 19 · Psalm 136
The passage taught · Amos 3:7
7 Surely the Lord Yahweh will do nothing, unless he reveals his secret to his servants the prophets.
World English Bible
The messages that teach on it
- March 29, 2026 Hosanna to Crucify Him: The Fickleness of the Crowd Palm Sunday sermon on Jesus' triumphal entry from John 12, the fickleness of crowds, and Paul's vision of the gospel going out to all people in Ephesians 3.
- March 29, 2026 Save Us Now: Hosanna and the Fickle Crowd Palm Sunday sermon exploring the crowd's "Hosanna" cry, human fickleness, and Paul's letter to the Ephesians on God's plan to bring the gospel to all people.
- April 13, 2025 Palm Sunday Sermon @ First B Jackson April 13th 2025 Palm Sunday sermon on the Psalms of Ascent, exploring God's steadfast love in Psalms 117, 118, and 136 as a love meant for all nations, not just a chosen few.
- April 13, 2025 His Steadfast Love Endures Forever Palm Sunday sermon on God's steadfast love from Psalms 117, 118, and 136: a love reaching every nation, enduring forever, worthy of our praise and proclamation.
- March 24, 2024 Innocent or Guilty Palm Sunday sermon examining eight declarations of Jesus' innocence across the Gospels, and what His undeserved death means for those who know they are guilty.
- October 22, 2023 The Melancholy Entry Pastor Nathan walks through the triumphal entry, showing why Jesus wept over Jerusalem and what it means to recognize God's moment of visitation before it passes.
- June 6, 2023 The King of Peace, Not a War Horse Mark 11 shows Jesus entering Jerusalem as a king of peace, not a conqueror, and clearing a temple that had become a barrier to God rather than a door.
- April 10, 2022 Palm Sunday April 10th 11 am Serivce Palm Sunday sermon on the crowd's fickleness, the meaning of palm branches as symbols of revolt, and God's steadfast love that never wavers even when ours does.
- April 10, 2022 Hosanna: The Steadfast Love of the Lord Endures Forever Palm Sunday sermon on fickle human nature versus God's steadfast love, tracing the symbolism of palm branches from the Maccabees to Christ's humble entry into Jerusalem.
- April 14, 2019 Save Now: The Triumphal Entry Palm Sunday sermon on John 11-12: the raising of Lazarus, the triumphal entry, and what it means that Jesus is the one who saves.
- April 14, 2019 Sir, We Wish to See Jesus Palm Sunday sermon exploring the political, religious, and economic world Jesus entered, and why He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey to the cries of a desperate people.
- March 25, 2018 His Steadfast Love Endures Forever Palm Sunday sermon exploring the Hebrew "Hosanna," the Psalms of Ascent, and how God's steadfast love endures forever, even in our lowest moments.
- March 20, 2016 Save Us Now: A Palm Sunday Detour Palm Sunday sermon exploring the triumphal entry, the raising of Lazarus, and what it means to cry out "Hosanna, save us now" to the only One who actually can.
- March 20, 2016 Save Us Now: Hosanna and the Tender Box On Palm Sunday, Pastor Carl traces Romans 2, the Lazarus story, and the triumphal entry to show why Christian identity must be rooted in Christ alone, not politics or heritage.
Mentioned along the way
- October 22, 2023 The Melancholy Entry Jesus rides into Jerusalem not as a conquering king but as a weeping one. Pastor explores what his lament over the city means for us today.
- April 9, 2017 Do You Know Him On Palm Sunday, elder Matt Litzelman explores what it means to truly know God, drawing on Philippians 3:10 and four practical habits: prayer, reading Scripture, community, and solitude.
- March 29, 2015 Fickle Followers of the Faith Pastor Brian preaches from Galatians 1 on Palm Sunday, showing how fickle people turn from God's grace, and why the gospel of Christ alone is enough.
- April 13, 2014 His Mercy Endures Forever Palm Sunday sermon exploring the two meanings of "Hosanna" and Psalm 136's repeated refrain, showing why God's enduring mercy calls us to grateful, confident praise.
- March 24, 2013 From John 18-19, Morning Praise (2) Palm Sunday sermon on God's sovereignty over suffering, tracing Job, Psalm 22, and Isaiah 53 to the cross of Christ, showing why Christians can still say "blessed be the name of the Lord."
- March 24, 2013 From John 18-19, Traditions (3) Songs woven through Scripture point to the cross: Pastor Joel traces Job, Psalm 22, Isaiah 53, and Philippians 2 to show why Christ's suffering was necessary.