Palm Sunday – April 5, 2009

Grace, mercy and peace to you from him who is, who was and who is to come, your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Zecharian 9:9,10 – Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the war-horses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.

It’s a cemetery. That’s the answer given to people who visit the city of Jerusalem today and look out at the Mount of Olives just east of the city. The whole western side of the Mount of Olives facing Jerusalem is covered with thousands of rectangle shaped concrete boxes about 3 feet high and 2 feet wide and 4 feet long. It’s a Jewish cemetery. It’s estimated there are 150,000 graves there. Beneath each rectangular box is the body of a person buried with feet facing the city of Jerusalem. Above the ground inside the box the person’s soul is believed to reside. According to Jewish tradition, and that’s important to understand, according to tradition and not the Bible, they believe that when the Messiah comes he will appear first at the Mount of Olives. The dead people there will rise and then walk with him into the city of Jerusalem. This is why they are buried with feet facing the city, so they will be ready to follow the Messiah right through the “Beautiful Gate” and into the city. Then it is believed that the Messiah will rule as king restoring Jerusalem and rebuilding the temple and reestablishing Israel as a great nation.

What followers of the Jewish religion do not understand and refuse to believe is that the Messiah-King has already come. Two thousand years ago He came to Jerusalem and rode right into the city. Some hailed Him as the Messiah and greeted Him as a king that day. But in the days that followed most rejected Him because He was not the kind of Messiah and King they expected. Yet He was exactly the kind of king God had promised and sinners need. Hundreds of years before the Messiah came God described him through the Prophet Zechariah. Here we see a picture of A DIFFERENT KIND OF KING. I. Different in the way He comes; II. Different in the way He conquers.

The thing that strikes us most about Jesus as He came into Jerusalem is His lowliness and gentleness. Those are not traits you usually find in a king and in other rulers. Earthly kings like to flex their muscles and flaunt their power. How different Jesus is. He’s the greatest and most powerful King of all. He’s the almighty Son of God. But rather than flaunt His almighty power, Jesus kept it hidden. He did not come riding on some royal steed in splendor and glory like a great and powerful king. He came, as Zechariah foretold, “gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

The people joyfully cheered Jesus on as He rode into the city that first Palm Sunday. His humble appearance didn’t seem to bother them that day. But it didn’t take long for them to change their minds about Jesus. On Good Friday, when Jesus stood before them with a bloody crown of thorns pressed onto His head, their shouts of “Hosanna” changed to cries of “Crucify! Crucify!” They turned against Jesus because He did not look like the powerful king they were hoping for, a king who would deliver them from their Roman oppressors and restore their nation to greatness.

Do we at times do something similar? Have you ever wished Jesus were a Savior and King who would flex His muscles and use His power a little more in your life? A loved one is suffering from cancer or some other illness. You pray that Jesus heal them. But often there is not a miraculous cure. Or you lose your job. Or you have marriage troubles. Or you struggle with your kids. You pray to Jesus for help. But He may not come immediately with a great display of power and fix things in an instant. How do you react when that happens? Do we act like the people in Jerusalem and “turn on” Jesus by doubting Him or questioning His ways?

Jesus had a reason for not showing forth His power when He came into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. It was necessary for him to not use His power and glory in order to save us. What would have happened if Jesus had shown forth His power and glory as He rode into Jerusalem that first Palm Sunday? People would have been amazed, but not saved. They would have looked upon Jesus as an earthly deliverer rather than their Savior from sin. Jesus came into Jerusalem humbly so that later in the week He might suffer and die for our sins. Then He would rise victorious from the grave showing that our sins are forgiven and that death and the devil are defeated.

Today Jesus still has reasons when He does not show forth His power in our lives. One reason may be that He doesn’t want us to see Him as only an earthly deliverer. Jesus is so much more than that! He’s our Savior who has forgiven each and every one of our sins, even those sins of doubting Him or questioning His ways. He’s our Savior who has rescued us from an eternity of suffering in hell and has secured for us a place with Him in heaven. He’s our Savior who does not always remove every trouble that comes into our life, but who is always there to help us through those troubles. Jesus is our Savior and King who does not come to us with outward displays of power and glory, but who quietly works in our hearts through His Word and Sacraments to assure us of our forgiveness and to strengthen our faith in Him.

Jesus’ coming was very different from what the Jews expected back on Palm Sunday and from what they look for today. He is also a King who is different in the way He conquers.

God prophesied through Zechariah, “I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the war-horses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken.” Chariots, war-horses, battle bow….these are the things that were used by kings in Bible times to conquer other people and expand their kingdoms. It’s still that way today. Military might – tanks, ships, air planes – this is what makes a nation or kingdom strong and enables it to defend and enlarge its borders. But God says the Messiah-King He sends is not going to use military might and force to extend His kingdom.

He says, “I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the war-horses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken.” And then He says of the Messiah, “He will proclaim peace to the nations.” The Messiah-King conquered the enemies of sin, death and the devil in a way completely different than one would expect. Instead of coming with might and majesty, he came giving his life as a ransom. In order to defeat sin, he actually took sin upon himself and carried it to the cross. In order to defeat death and the devil, he actually died, and then he rose from the dead. In this way our Great and Glorious King established his kingdom. And when it comes to bringing people into that kingdom, we see that our Messiah-King works in similarly humble ways.

The Messiah-King conquers people and brings them into His kingdom not with military might but by proclaiming peace to them – peace with God that He himself won for sinners by paying for their sins on the cross. That peace is found on the pages of his holy Word. To the natural human eye it doesn’t seem like much. To the sinful senses of mankind it seems ridiculous that a message written years ago would have the power to change human hearts. But what the natural human eye with its sinful senses fails to realize is that that Word is the very Word of God which the Holy Spirit uses to conquer sinful, hostile hearts and turn them to Jesus and bring them into His kingdom.

So what does this mean for you and me? First of all, it reminds us in a very vivid and forceful way that the only reason we sit here today rightfully calling ourselves Christians is because of the silent, steady, strong working of the Holy Spirit in the gospel message of that Word. We can’t claim any credit on our own, nor do we want to. Likewise, if we recognize that we have been brought into a relationship of peace through the quiet workings of God’s message which has brought us to believe that the humble and lowly work of Jesus has saved us, is there ever really any reason for us to doubt or question the way he guides our lives?

Secondly, if it is the humble life and innocent death of Jesus that has saved us, and that message which creates faith is found on the pages of Scripture, it only stands to reason that if we want to remain firm in this peace that Christ won, we must continue to find our greatest delight in the use of that Word. Just because it doesn’t say what we think it should say, or because it doesn’t give us what we want, or because it is ridiculed by many in the world, or because at times it can make life on this side of heaven more difficult, or because it doesn’t produce results on our schedule or timetable, doesn’t mean it has any less power. May we pray that God continue to fill us with the faith that believes and confesses as Paul did, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16).

Finally, if it is this humble message of peace won by our great and glorious King that conquers the wicked heart and brings people into his kingdom, naturally, we will want to do nothing more and nothing less than share that message with those who still stand outside our Savior’s kingdom. God said through Zechariah that through this message of peace many would be conquered and Christ’s kingdom expanded. “His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.” He’s saying that there would be no boundary to Jesus’ kingdom, no limit to how far it will spread. Jesus told His disciples to go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. And they did. And today the message of peace continues to be proclaimed in all parts of the world and people are being conquered and brought into Christ’s kingdom, and we need to see ourselves as a part of that process.

God has given us the privilege of taking part in conquering others and bringing them into His kingdom so they too might be saved. One way we do this is through our offerings. Those offerings help our congregation to expand Jesus’ kingdom here in our community and also support the work of our synod. But it’s not just about offerings. God gives each of us opportunities to personally share God’s message of peace with others and it doesn’t have to cost a penny. It doesn’t cost a cent for you to tell a friend about Jesus. It doesn’t cost a cent to talk to that family member about Jesus. It doesn’t cost a cent for you to invite your neighbor to church on Easter Sunday. It doesn’t cost a cent for you to help out with our church’s outreach activities.

Jews today are still waiting for the Messiah to come and enter Jerusalem, but we know from passages like this one from Zechariah that the Messiah has already come. He entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. So, let us look with awe this holy week as we see our King meekly and gently go to the cross to win the victory over sin and then rise victoriously on Easter morning. And let us involve ourselves in the high privilege he has given us to share his message of peace that He may conquer more people and bring them into his kingdom. AMEN.