Palm Sunday, April 9, 2006

Texts: John 12:12-19; Philippians 2:5-11

The King Who Comes to Save Us!

In our Old Testament reading from Zecharia 9:9-12 we heard a prediction of how the King of Israel would arrive in Jerusalem, riding on a donkey. The prophet Zechariah lived about 500 years before Jesus fulfilled this promise God gave the children of Israel. And when Jesus entered Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday, He was the most popular person in town. Everyone had heard of Him, the great miracle worker. Lazarus had just been raised from the dead. They wondered, “Could this be the Messiah, the one who would usher in a new world order?” For many, Jesus was the One and they welcomed Him into Jerusalem shouting: “Hosanna! [Lord, save us!] Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the King of Israel!”

Some in Jerusalem did not welcome Jesus: Among them the Pharisees and the ruling Jews. They feared His criticism of how they abused their spiritual authority over God’s people to fatten themselves. Jesus had exposed them and their hypocrisy. They felt that He was undermining their standing among the people. And if the people no longer listened to them, then the Roman authorities would remove them from their privileged positions as leaders among the Jews. That is why they did not welcome that “king” riding on the donkey.

But this king on the donkey was not interested in power politics. He did not come to overthrow the Jewish leaders or to free Israel from Roman rule. He was on a far more important mission. He came riding into Jerusalem in order to establish a universal kingdom of peace. He did not come to bring peace for Israel alone, but for all the peoples of the earth (Zech. 9:10).

The peace Jesus came to bring was in fulfillment of the promise God made to Abraham when He said: “Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed” (Genesis 12:3, 18:18, 22:18). Later the God confirmed this promise to King David saying, “All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before Him” (Psalm 22:27).

But we know that every empire of mankind has been established by war and bloodshed. How would Jesus “take over” the world without war and bloodshed? Well, there would be war and bloodshed. But it was a spiritual war, for the kingdom Jesus came to establish was a spiritual kingdom. He came to fight a spiritual enemy, Satan. By defeating Satan, Jesus also destroyed the power of sin and death, making it possible for all people to be freed from that power and to receive a new life in a new world.

At this time the spiritual kingdom of Jesus is invisible. It is hidden from our eyes. But God promised through the prophet Isaiah, that a time is coming when “All the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God” (52:10); “I…am about to come and gather all nations and tongues, and they will come and see my glory.” Jesus will return to raise all those who have died and to judge all mankind. At that time His spiritual kingdom, which has been hidden from sight, will be revealed and everyone will see His glory. At that time God will reveal a new heaven and a new earth which will endure forever. And all who trust in Him will also endure and live forever (Isaiah 66:22). Then “All mankind will come and bow down before me,” says the Lord (23). The invisible kingdom of faith will be transformed into a visible kingdom of divine power and love.

Jesus enters Jerusalem, riding a donkey, as part of His fulfillment of God’s promises to establish a universal kingdom of peace made many centuries ago. Now a donkey is called a “beast of burden.” It is a servant animal that carries the burden of its master. There is another reason God choose a beast of burden for His Son’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. For this day fell on the tenth day of Nissan in the Jewish calendar, the day when the lamb was selected that would be sacrificed five days later during the Passover feast for the sins of God’s people. So, unknowingly, those welcoming Jesus into Jerusalem, were welcoming the Lamb of God who would offer His life for their sins in a few short days.

And like the beast of burden He was riding, Jesus too was carrying a burden: He was bearing my sins and your sins and the sins of all mankind. Jesus comes into Jerusalem riding on a donkey, because He comes as our servant to carry our sin and our burdens to the cross. There He pays for them with His own life so that they will be completely removed from before the face of the Judge of all mankind.

That Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey is a sign that He does not come to kill and conquer, to punish and pay back, but that He comes to serve and heal, to offer His life and die. Paul said it best when he wrote to the Philippians as we heard it in the Epistle lesson: “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!” (2:5-8)

Why was it necessary for Jesus to do that? Well, you should remember that ever since Satan lost his position in heaven because he led the angels in a rebellion against God, he has been leading mankind into rebellion against God. And because we have followed Satan in his rebellion against God, we have all come under God’s judgment. Satan had succeeded in estranging us from God and we are now his prisoners and on our way into the lake of fire that God has prepared for him and all his demons.

But God loved us so much that He found a way to free us from Satan’s power. He sends His one and only Son in lowly human form, riding a donkey. Can you imagine God, the Creator of the universe, riding on a donkey, riding towards the cross and into the jaws of death and hell itself? Satan sees that Jesus has made Himself vulnerable to suffering and death. He sees this as his chance to destroy the beloved Son of the Father. In His blind rage against God he gathers all his forces to humiliate Jesus and have Him executed in the most horrible manner.

And God allows it. Why? Because this is a trap for Satan. Trough His death Jesus Himself would capture Satan and free us. For Jesus is not a mere man. As true God He is also the Author of Life. Death has no power over Him. In killing Him Satan lost his control over us. Now we who trust in Jesus for our salvation no longer share the Devil’s fate in the fiery lake. Through the forgiveness of our sins we join Jesus in His resurrection from the dead and in everlasting life in His kingdom!

As we begin Holy Week it never ceases to astound me as I see that drama of the greatest of all epic battles unfold: The battle that was waged for my salvation between the Prince of Darkness and the Son of God. Today we join the people of Jerusalem in welcoming and cheering our Champion, our King riding a donkey. We have reason to rejoice in Christ our King because soon He will give us His prize, to be part of His emerging kingdom of a new heaven and a new earth. As we follow Jesus this week, we will find ourselves passing through the upper room on Thursday, passing by the cross on Friday and on to the empty tomb on Easter Sunday.

During this journey through Holy Week, we humbly receive the King who comes to us on the donkey. On Maundy Thursday we will see Him again in the bread and wine of His Last Supper that we may share in the fellowship of His sufferings. There He graciously comes to us offering spiritual food for our souls, forgiveness to the troubled, rest to the weary, and healing to the afflicted. Now is the time for us to climb off of our own horses of pride and self-sufficiency, and kneel with repentant hearts before our Creator and Lord crying, Hosanna! Hosanna to the Lord who comes to save us!

May our gracious God keep your hearts and minds in perfect peace through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.