28 And when he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’” 32 So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them. 33 And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” 35 And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. 37 As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, 38 saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”
— Luke 19:28-40, ESV

When I say the name, “Andy Griffith,” most of us instantly see his face.  He had many, but the one that probably pops to mind is that of Sheriff Andy Taylor.  That was his face on “The Andy Griffith Show” in the 1960’s.  Who can forget the many other faces from Mayberry, like Opie, Aunt Bee, and Barney.  Otis was my personal favorite.  There just wasn’t a bad face in the crowd.

But did you know Andy Griffith’s first famous role was in a movie, not a TV show, and a critically acclaimed one at that.  He played Larry “Lonesome” Rhodes in 1957’s “A Face in the Crowd.”  His face in that film was not flattering.  He was an absolute jerk from, of all places, Northeast Arkansas.  His features rose and fell in that film from anonymity, to popularity, to infamy.  Almost all of the faces in the crowd looked very disappointed.  

On the original Palm Sunday, there was a face in the crowd that followed the same trajectory, albeit for completely different reasons.  He was not a nincompoop from northeast Arkansas.  He was a King from Heaven.  His face on earth appeared in anonymity in a manger, rose to popularity, perhaps peaking at this moment, only to be marred in infamy, by blows, a crown of thorns, and a cross.

Jesus was the preeminent face in the crowd on Palm Sunday.  Other faces belonged to His disciples, and eleven out of twelve were friendly.  There were also faces from a big crowd, and one should always be suspect of crowds, for their faces are always changing.  Finally, there were the ugly faces of the Pharisees.  Boo!

Today I want you to find your face in the crowd.  Would it reflect the Lord’s, and show love with all of your heart, mind, soul, and strength?  Would it be the face of a joyful and serious disciple, gladly worshiping God, eager to carry out His commandments?  Would it be a fickle face, superficial and unserious, like so many faces in large church crowds today?  Or worse still, would it be the face of a Pharisee?  We must examine all of the faces seen on Palm Sunday in order to find our own face in the crowd.

The Face of the Lord

There is no face as beautiful as that of the Lord Jesus Christ.  He shows it after lying low for a season, His popularity having waned and the Jewish religious leaders out to get Him.  He made the papers again with the raising of Lazarus from the dead.  Now He makes a dramatic public appearance with a parade into Jerusalem.  Jesus is accompanied by His close disciples and a multitude of Passover pilgrims who are excited about the Lord’s rising approval ratings. The face Jesus wears on Palm Sunday, however, is unfazed by popular opinion.  He has work to do, both human and divine.

Obviously, Jesus was a man, human, incarnate.  Incarnation requires humanity.  Jesus was a man, albeit the God-man, with body, soul, and spirit.  He could be seen and heard.  Like the rest of us, He loved a good parade.  He especially loved people.  He was and is real.  He was and is someone you can know, personally.  He was and is someone to believe in, to trust.  He was and is God with us.  And, He had a beautiful face, loving, kind, forgiving, and resolute to complete His work.

What was not so obvious to the crowd, then, and the world, now, is that Jesus was, is, and always will be Almighty God.  Only an omniscient and omnipresent God could have the power to know the precise location, owner, and animal that would serve as His prophetic float for the Passover parade.  Only an omnipotent God could make rocks cry out, although this card is one Jesus chose not to play on Palm Sunday.  

Only the one, true, triune, and living God is to be worshipped in the manner in which Jesus was exalted on Palm Sunday.  The people cushioned His saddle and lined the roadway with the clothes off their backs (and as John’s Gospel tells us, leaves from palm trees).  They praised Him and called Him King.  Such praise and worship would have been blasphemy, if Jesus Christ were not the Messianic King and Almighty God, all rolled into one, rolling into Jerusalem on a donkey, sublime humility offering spiritual peace.  

Shame on the skeptics and gnostics and other heretics who deny the humanity or the historicity of Christ.  Shame on the Arians and Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses and other heretics who deny the triunity of God and absolute deity of Christ, “God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one being with the Father” (The Nicene Creed).  Shame an all who persist in unbelief and fail to look upon the face of the Lord Jesus Christ, the face of man and the face of God.

The Face of a Disciple

Next to the Lord Jesus Christ, the face, or faces, you want to see on Palm Sunday are those of His true followers.  At least eleven were there, and hopefully a few more.  They weren’t called Christians, yet, but mainly disciples.  Though not elevated to the level of Jesus, God forbid, their faces do stand out in the crowd.  

Two of the disciples took steps of faith to seek out the colt Jesus commandeered for His Palm Sunday service.  All eleven led in worship by offering their cloaks and raising their voices.  Their example was quickly copied by the crowd, but always know public worship is always occupied by the serious and the silly.  

Most people in America would expect to find their faces in the disciples’ directory.  Most people in Arkansas are members of a church and consider themselves to be Christian.  But while “Christian” is a word found only three times in the New Testament, some form of the word “disciple” is used 261 times, including three times in this story.

If you want assurance of your salvation, go to the Bible, then take a long look at your face in the mirror.  Is it the face of a Christian?  That could mean anything, for that name has virtually lost its meaning in modern times.  What you want to see is the face of a disciple, a true follower of Jesus Christ, which is the face of a genuine Christian.  

Disciples do what the Lord tells them to do, even if it is difficult or risky, like potentially stealing a colt and suffering the wrath of the owner.   Disciples are willing to give all that they have to the Lord, even the clothes off their backs.  Disciples are not ashamed to worship and praise the Lord in public, and do so regularly, in good times and bad.  

Disciples ultimately persevere.  The holy journey from Palm Sunday to Good Friday to Resurrection Sunday was one Hell and one Heaven of a ride.  Phonies fell away.  Real disciples were tested.  As we observe Palm Sunday today, those eleven and the other true disciples are enjoying their reward.  I’d love to peak into Paradise and see what their faces look like right now.

The Face of the Fickle

There will be no fickle faces in Heaven, but Christendom on earth is full of them.  The original holy week, beginning with Palm Sunday, is a Scriptural barometer.  We are not given the exact number of the people who accompanied Jesus into Jerusalem on that Palm Sunday.  Since Jews did not travel on the Sabbath, and this Sunday was the first opportunity to get the good lodging and camping spots for Passover, I suspect there were thousands upon thousands of faces in the crowd.

For the most part, the crowd on Palm Sunday joined in exuberant worship.  It would have resembled a big gathering at one of those exciting megachurches.  It was flashy.  It was fun.  It was largely fickle.  It was mostly fake.  In five days they’d be singing another tune.  

Perhaps a million worshippers came to Jerusalem for the original Holy Week, beginning with Palm Sunday.  By Resurrection Sunday, however, only 120 or so souls were on hand to show their support for the living Lord, then go to Galilee to spend 40 or so days with Him, then return to Jerusalem to receive the commission to go out and gather new faces, faces from all over the world, for the Lord’s New Covenant church.  

Multitudes today like to have their faces lit up with stage lights, concert music, positive pep talks, and other such entertainments in their church experience.  Real disciples’ faces must look a little boring in comparison.  We just want word and sacrament.  We just want to love and obey the Lord.  We just want true worship that results in true service.  

If you should see a fickle face looking back at you from the mirror, exchange it.  Put on the face of a joyful and serious disciple of the Lord.  Then you, with a face like Jesus, can go out and make all of the right people mad.  

The Face of a Pharisee

The final and most frightening faces in this crowd belong to, get ready, the Pharisees.  Boo!

You have to credit them for being honest in this case, however, as they did not try to hide their disdain for Jesus.  Hypocrites they were, as labeled by the Lord Himself, but they did not put their dark light under a basket on Palm Sunday.  They showed their faces for all the world to see, and they did not stop smirking at Jesus until He was crucified in the courts of Jewish opinion and Roman injustice.

They would not call Jesus King or Lord, only teacher, and they claimed He was a false one at that.  They were anti-disciples and anti-Christs.  They would not praise Him and worship Him, for they did not believe in Him.  They would not give Him their clothing, nor a penny from their prosperous pockets, for they loved themselves far more than they could ever love God.  

The faces of the Pharisees resembled a pack of hound dogs, barking at the Lord Jesus Christ until they nailed Him to the cross.  They stalked Him all the way to the tomb.  Their faces smiled at His betrayal, arrest, trials, and crucifixion.  But I guarantee you, they had nothing to smile about when Palm Sunday rolled around to Resurrection Sunday, when the stone on the tomb was rolled away.  There is no place in the kingdom of God for the face of a Pharisee.

The Face in the Crowd

Today is Palm Sunday.  Churches are full.  Children are waving palms.  We begin the commemoration of the most holy week of the year.  The Scriptures tell us what Jesus’ face looked like during the first Palm Sunday.  While Pontius Pilate entered Jerusalem on a white horse, projecting power and victory, Jesus rolled in on a donkey, His face brimming with a smiling humility and a spiritual peace.  

But what will Jesus’ face look like when He comes to earth the second time?  It will not appear atop a donkey.  He’ll take that white horse, that symbol of war and victory.  This is the face the whole world will see, faithful disciples, the fickle who fell away, and the Pharisees who were lost from the start.  

Face it, your face will be one of the three.  A disciple’s face belongs to a true Christian.  A fickle face belongs to a nominal, those who take Jesus’ name in vain.  A Pharisee’s face belongs to all those who bypass the cross and try to work their own way to Heaven.  

Which will be your face in the crowd?