The Pathos of Palm Sunday
Sunday, March 29, 2026
Pastor Mark D. Boykin
PATHOS (noun)
a quality of something that arouses pity, sympathy, tenderness or sorrow
Matthew 21:1–11 KJV
What has always amazed me regarding the story of Palm Sunday is how the multitudes were so enthralled with Jesus. They literally proclaimed Him King (verse 9), but within a week's time, this fickle crowd was calling for His life.
What happened between Palm Sunday and Good Friday? Why did they later deny all of the things that they had said?
When Jesus came into Jerusalem on that fateful day, the whole city was in an uproar crying: “Hosanna to God in the highest! He is the Son of David!”
They wanted a king. They wanted a deliverer. They wanted a Messiah. But the pathos, or sorrow, of it all is that they wanted a king “made to order,” not the way God had planned it. They wanted a king the way other nations would worship a king. But He was the King of kings. Lord of lords. God of all gods. There is none like Him. And He did not come to appease a fickle crowd. Within a week, the same mouths that were uttering “Hosanna to God in the highest,” were crying “crucify Him, crucify Him!”
Are we really so different than them? They wanted a king on Palm Sunday, but they crucified the Lord on Good Friday. We'll take a king that will deliver us from evil and tragedy, but we won't give Him complete control of our hearts. We'll take a king who gives us bread and fish sticks. But we'll deny one who gives us flesh and blood for eternal life.
There were essentially three things that led to the crucifixion of Jesus:
Jesus healed the man and told him his sins were forgiven.
Jesus told them that unless they would drink of his blood and eat of his flesh, they could not receive the kingdom of God.
Jesus said “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will rebuild it.”
Those are the three things that they accused him of — blasphemy. Was He really the son of God?
As you read the text and the details of his crucifixion, there were so many signs of his validity. But their eyes were blinded by their hatred.
When you first read this text, you would think that this crowd was close to the kingdom but in reality, they were never close to the kingdom at all. There's several points that bring this polarization to light.
I. The Crowd He Never Knew
In this chorus of “Hosannas,” you could’ve sworn that they knew Jesus. Nowhere has a crowd of people chanting verbiage like that ever saved anyone. The only way a person can be saved is to know Christ as a personal Savior. We are not saved by a creed, council, or code. We are saved by a Savior.
They should’ve known Christ.
They should have known Him by His simplicity.
Zechariah 9:9 KJV
The genius of greatness is the ability to condescend. Man may aspire, but only God identifies. Man may try, but Jesus identified with everything we have been through. Jesus demonstrated in his identification with hurting humanity by walking where they walked. Hurting like they hurt. Dying like they never died. The suffering, the pain, the pathos.
The greatest kings in history could never condescend to where we were. Only Jesus.
Jesus never slept in the palace. Yes, Jesus never wore a royal robe. Jesus never held a royal scepter. He never had a golden crown upon his head. He never had people who were sitting at his beck and call. He never had every amenity and comfort that he wanted.
In fact, He was in the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights. He was hungry. Satan attacked him at his lowest point, which is exactly how Satan treats us. It's not when we're on the mountain, it's when we're in the valley. It's when we're hurting.
They should have known Him by His humanity.
He hungered on the cross. He thirsted at the tomb of Lazarus. He wept in the garden Gethsemane. His closest friends couldn’t support Him. When He was arrested, His friends fled and denied Him. He was left alone, forsaken by even His father. He had no home. He had no wardrobe. He had no pillow to lay down his precious head. (He himself said, foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests. But the Son of man hath nowhere to lay his head.)
They should have known Him by His dieity.
The scriptures declared it. The angels proclaimed it. God himself confirmed it. Prophets foretold it (Micah 5:2, Isaiah 53).
They knew those scriptures. They probably could quote it by heart, but they were so blinded by their own desires and their own wants that they participated in crucifying the very God of heaven.
II. The Cross He Never Shunned
Jesus said, “I have come to do my father's will.”
You cannot remove sacrifice and blood from Jewish culture. From Eden to the temple to the cross, blood was the covering for sin. Jesus at the cross was the culmination of it all.
Before the creation of the world, the cross was on His mind. In the heart of God, He already knew that He would redeem His own creation that had fallen into sin and separated themselves from His very presence.
Without the shedding of blood, there is no redemption. At the cross, the work of redemption has been complete.
Only Christ can save you today. Which leads us to the final point…
III. The Criminal He Never Saved
(Matthew 27:15)
The criminal’s name was Barabbas.
He didn't happen to be at the right place at the right time. His release was as surely planned as the cross itself. Barabbas represents every sinner who walks past the doorway to heaven and instead walks the broad road to destruction.
Jesus didn’t really save Him at all. How many more miserable years did he live?
Jesus saved his skin, but He never saved his soul. He may have saved his neck, but never saved his heart. He delivered him from death, but not unto life.
Jesus has done the same for many of you. He saved your life from destruction. He gave you another chance. You were sick, He healed you. You lost your job, He gave you a new one. Your life was over, He gave you a new start. But did you ever meet the Savior?
No one ever impacted your life like Jesus has. All He asks in return is that you open your heart and you accept what He did at Calvary.
Think of the crowd on Palm Sunday. They’re waving palm fronds, throwing their jackets down in the mud, crying out, “Hosanna to God in the highest!” But their hearts were far away from Jesus.
John 17:3 “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”
That's as simple as it gets. Yet so many people think it’s by their intellect, intelligence, wealth, prestige or popularity. But you can only be saved through Jesus Christ.
All of us have sinned. And the question is, have you made Jesus Christ your Savior? We don't gather very Sunday just to see each other and hug and pat each other on the back. We come here to serve a king, a Lord, a Savior, a redeemer, and that's what he wants to do in your life today.
He wants to save you from yourself, from your sins, from eternal damnation.
I once was lost. But now I'm found. I was blind and I could not see. And then came Jesus. He called my name. He gave me something more than rubies and diamonds and gold and silver. He gave me eternal life.
If today, without any reservation, you want to give your life to Jesus, declare in your heart of hearts that Jesus's your personal Lord and savior.
Dear Heavenly Father,
I come to you in Jesus' precious name and I confess that I have sinned. And I confess You are Lord. That You are the son of God. Who died for the sins of the entire world. And when You were on the cross, I was on your mind. And You died for my sins. I ask you to come into my heart. Cleanse me of all unrighteousness. Every sin I have ever committed, wash me clean. Wash we with hyssop and I shall be whiter than snow. Lord I thank you because I know who you were. You are the son of David. The son of God. My savior and my Lord. Both now and forever.
Amen.
Watch the full sermon in it’s entirety here: