Palm Sunday (Sunday of the Passion)
April 9, 2006
Rev. Dr. Kenneth Wieting
Text: John 12: 15, 17, 18; Mark 15:1-47
Palm branches! A donkey colt to ride on! Shouts of Hosanna (O God, save us)! Why? “The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign.” (John 12:17, 18).
Dear Christians, the reason for that first Palm Sunday parade was life from death. For four days the corpse of Lazarus had lain, rotting in a tomb of Bethany. Then Jesus came and cried “Lazarus, come out”. And He did! From stinking corpse to saving sign, Lazarus was full of life again. The people knew it! The Pharisees feared it! The parade for Jesus was on! “They took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”
Two thousand years later we are still gathering to join His parade. Is it not a wonder that even this morning there are palm branches and shouts of Hosanna in this place for Him? Is it not a wonder that even now your presence and your voice are joined in the parade? Don’t ever turn back from following Him! The reason is the same, life from death! FEAR NOT, DAUGHTER OF ZION; BEHOLD YOUR KING COMES TO GIVE YOU LIFE!
Oh how we sinners need a King who gives us life! Remember how Israel demanded a king when the prophet Samuel had grown old? They wanted an earthly monarch to lead them in battle against the Philistines. They wanted a king like all the other nations. In that desire and that request Samuel said they were rejecting God as their king (I Sam. 8). Yet God gave them what they clamored for.
Saul was anointed, then King David, then King Solomon, then the kings of the divided kingdom. The reign of some was better and some worse, but generally God sent prophets to speak against their wicked rule. Earthly kings did not meet the deepest needs of the people of God.
The people kept hoping for a special king, a great deliverer, in whom all of the Lord’s promises would be fulfilled. Through the prophet Nathan, God had promised King David that He would raise up his descendent (seed) and establish the throne of His kingdom forever (II Sam 7:12-14). Isaiah spoke of this shoot of the stump of Jesse (Is. 9 and 11). Ezekiel spoke of the kingly, tender twig (17:22). Zechariah, the prophet of hope after the exile, said, “Rejoice greatly, your king comes to you righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey.”
It was written! God had promised a King! From the time of Zechariah decades went by, then centuries! For nearly four hundred years there is little note of hope for a Messianic King. In that period the Romans came and things seemed even worse. Distant Caesar’s and heavy taxation were the order of the day for the people of Israel. Where was their King?
Then one Judean night over the fields of Bethlehem the birth of a Savior was announced by God’s angels. Soon wise men from the east came with a startling question, “Where is He who is born “King of the Jews”? (Mt. 2:2). Herod was so concerned about this infant king that he slaughtered innocent babies trying to cut short his life. In the first months of His life, this little King seemed to bring death to others, not life!
Some thirty years later He began to preach words of freedom and forgiveness. He announced that the kingdom of God came with His presence. He released people from the binding power of sickness and Satan and sin. When He miraculously fed five thousand, the people were filled with so much enthusiasm for him that they attempted to make Him king by force (John 6). But He would not be crowned king to keep bellies full, to meet earthly needs according to our dictates.
That brings us to Palm Sunday and the shouts of the people and His willingness on that day to be hailed as King. The miracles had continued according to His plan, not according to the prescription of the people. His plan included the raising of Lazarus; the restoring of life in the face of death and decay. The people knew of this sign. For the moment enthusiasm was sky high again! “So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”
Palm Sunday is about a King who brings life from death. The reason they went out to him was a living, breathing Lazarus. Four days in a tomb! Foul of smell and full of death, he was bursting with life again! Oh, how we need a King who gives us life in this dying, decaying world. All of the little kings we crown for ourselves and within ourselves only give us death. The king of self is dying. Our self-seeking, self-justifying rule leads us away from God. The king of shared family love and closeness cannot get through death. Our warmest sentiments and fondest memories are powerless at the grave. The king of earthly savings and success will disappoint. You cannot take it with you. The shallow king of style and sophistication will decay. The outward form of this world is passing away. The king of scholarly achievement will shrink away. Man by his wisdom does not know God. The king of pleasurable sensations and entertainment will ultimately dissatisfy. We cannot manufacture heaven on earth. All of the little kings we crown for ourselves and within ourselves only give us death. Oh, how we need a King who gives us life! Wondrously, Christ’s entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday signaled restoration of life that far surpassed the raising of Lazarus.
Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt. Palm Sunday is also Passion Sunday. Soon Pilate would ask -”are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “You have said so”. He would later add, “My kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18:36)
Palm Sunday began the week that changed the world. Palm Sunday began the week that brings us life in the midst of death through the death of the King of life. He came into Jerusalem borne by a donkey colt. He went out bearing His cross. He came in to shouts of “Hosanna”. He went out to shouts of “crucify Him, crucify Him.”
Dear Christians, who needs this King? Who needs a king who is shackled and shamed and stripped naked and refuses to do anything about it? Who needs a King who humbles Himself even to death on a cross? Who needs a King who speaks not only of His own cross, but also of the cross and suffering of those who follow Him? Make no mistake, at the center of your heart and my heart by nature is the same desire expressed in the last challenge to Him as king on Good Friday. “Let Christ, the king of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.”
You see, by nature, we will always want a king we can see and a king who will do our bidding. We will always want a king who will take away the cross with its pressures and loneliness and disappointments and death. Our sinful nature will always want a king who will wave a magic wand instead of the King who offers a marvelous sacrifice. But that would be a false king in the crumbling kingdom of this world.
Your true King loves you too much to be turned aside by the enticements of this dying world. Your true King knew full well that the crown awaiting Him in Jerusalem was woven of thorns and not of gold. Your true King rode in to die in your place under your sin receiving your punishment. Purposely He rides. Meekly He rides. Planning a heavenly meal of sacrificial Lamb for you, forward into death’s dark shadow land, He rides.
Your true King now teaches you to pray everyday “Thy kingdom come”. How does God’s kingdom come? When I get my way? When I feel just right? When all my loved ones are safe and healthy? No! “God’s kingdom comes when our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy Word and lead a godly life, here in time and hereafter in eternity.”
Is that what you would have King Jesus do for you as you enter Holy Week in the year of our Lord 2006? If you are here seeking His grace to believe His holy word and to lead a godly life, then rejoice! “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he.” Your king comes to you humbly, riding on lowly water and word and bread and wine.
Your King comes to you with forgiveness enough for all your sins, your hidden sins, your silly sins, your big sins, in fact your entire sinful life. This week is His glory! His death is His glory! His cross is His glory! All this is His glory because He glories in giving life to you! Risen from the grave that’s why Your King comes to you today! Risen from the grave that’s why Your King comes to you each week!
Otherwise it is all rather silly isn’t it? Otherwise why are you still in His parade 2000 years after that first Palm Sunday? Otherwise why should we gather this Thursday to receive the New Testament in His blood? Otherwise why should we gather this Friday to meditate on His atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world? Otherwise why should we gather here next week and each week to rejoice in His resurrection and receive His gifts?
The reason is the same! Your true King is not like the kings of earthly nations. This King and only this King brings you life from death. Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold your King comes to bring you life. AMEN.
Rev. Dr. Kenneth Wieting
Text: John 12: 15, 17, 18; Mark 15:1-47
Palm branches! A donkey colt to ride on! Shouts of Hosanna (O God, save us)! Why? “The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign.” (John 12:17, 18).
Dear Christians, the reason for that first Palm Sunday parade was life from death. For four days the corpse of Lazarus had lain, rotting in a tomb of Bethany. Then Jesus came and cried “Lazarus, come out”. And He did! From stinking corpse to saving sign, Lazarus was full of life again. The people knew it! The Pharisees feared it! The parade for Jesus was on! “They took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”
Two thousand years later we are still gathering to join His parade. Is it not a wonder that even this morning there are palm branches and shouts of Hosanna in this place for Him? Is it not a wonder that even now your presence and your voice are joined in the parade? Don’t ever turn back from following Him! The reason is the same, life from death! FEAR NOT, DAUGHTER OF ZION; BEHOLD YOUR KING COMES TO GIVE YOU LIFE!
Oh how we sinners need a King who gives us life! Remember how Israel demanded a king when the prophet Samuel had grown old? They wanted an earthly monarch to lead them in battle against the Philistines. They wanted a king like all the other nations. In that desire and that request Samuel said they were rejecting God as their king (I Sam. 8). Yet God gave them what they clamored for.
Saul was anointed, then King David, then King Solomon, then the kings of the divided kingdom. The reign of some was better and some worse, but generally God sent prophets to speak against their wicked rule. Earthly kings did not meet the deepest needs of the people of God.
The people kept hoping for a special king, a great deliverer, in whom all of the Lord’s promises would be fulfilled. Through the prophet Nathan, God had promised King David that He would raise up his descendent (seed) and establish the throne of His kingdom forever (II Sam 7:12-14). Isaiah spoke of this shoot of the stump of Jesse (Is. 9 and 11). Ezekiel spoke of the kingly, tender twig (17:22). Zechariah, the prophet of hope after the exile, said, “Rejoice greatly, your king comes to you righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey.”
It was written! God had promised a King! From the time of Zechariah decades went by, then centuries! For nearly four hundred years there is little note of hope for a Messianic King. In that period the Romans came and things seemed even worse. Distant Caesar’s and heavy taxation were the order of the day for the people of Israel. Where was their King?
Then one Judean night over the fields of Bethlehem the birth of a Savior was announced by God’s angels. Soon wise men from the east came with a startling question, “Where is He who is born “King of the Jews”? (Mt. 2:2). Herod was so concerned about this infant king that he slaughtered innocent babies trying to cut short his life. In the first months of His life, this little King seemed to bring death to others, not life!
Some thirty years later He began to preach words of freedom and forgiveness. He announced that the kingdom of God came with His presence. He released people from the binding power of sickness and Satan and sin. When He miraculously fed five thousand, the people were filled with so much enthusiasm for him that they attempted to make Him king by force (John 6). But He would not be crowned king to keep bellies full, to meet earthly needs according to our dictates.
That brings us to Palm Sunday and the shouts of the people and His willingness on that day to be hailed as King. The miracles had continued according to His plan, not according to the prescription of the people. His plan included the raising of Lazarus; the restoring of life in the face of death and decay. The people knew of this sign. For the moment enthusiasm was sky high again! “So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”
Palm Sunday is about a King who brings life from death. The reason they went out to him was a living, breathing Lazarus. Four days in a tomb! Foul of smell and full of death, he was bursting with life again! Oh, how we need a King who gives us life in this dying, decaying world. All of the little kings we crown for ourselves and within ourselves only give us death. The king of self is dying. Our self-seeking, self-justifying rule leads us away from God. The king of shared family love and closeness cannot get through death. Our warmest sentiments and fondest memories are powerless at the grave. The king of earthly savings and success will disappoint. You cannot take it with you. The shallow king of style and sophistication will decay. The outward form of this world is passing away. The king of scholarly achievement will shrink away. Man by his wisdom does not know God. The king of pleasurable sensations and entertainment will ultimately dissatisfy. We cannot manufacture heaven on earth. All of the little kings we crown for ourselves and within ourselves only give us death. Oh, how we need a King who gives us life! Wondrously, Christ’s entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday signaled restoration of life that far surpassed the raising of Lazarus.
Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt. Palm Sunday is also Passion Sunday. Soon Pilate would ask -”are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “You have said so”. He would later add, “My kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18:36)
Palm Sunday began the week that changed the world. Palm Sunday began the week that brings us life in the midst of death through the death of the King of life. He came into Jerusalem borne by a donkey colt. He went out bearing His cross. He came in to shouts of “Hosanna”. He went out to shouts of “crucify Him, crucify Him.”
Dear Christians, who needs this King? Who needs a king who is shackled and shamed and stripped naked and refuses to do anything about it? Who needs a King who humbles Himself even to death on a cross? Who needs a King who speaks not only of His own cross, but also of the cross and suffering of those who follow Him? Make no mistake, at the center of your heart and my heart by nature is the same desire expressed in the last challenge to Him as king on Good Friday. “Let Christ, the king of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.”
You see, by nature, we will always want a king we can see and a king who will do our bidding. We will always want a king who will take away the cross with its pressures and loneliness and disappointments and death. Our sinful nature will always want a king who will wave a magic wand instead of the King who offers a marvelous sacrifice. But that would be a false king in the crumbling kingdom of this world.
Your true King loves you too much to be turned aside by the enticements of this dying world. Your true King knew full well that the crown awaiting Him in Jerusalem was woven of thorns and not of gold. Your true King rode in to die in your place under your sin receiving your punishment. Purposely He rides. Meekly He rides. Planning a heavenly meal of sacrificial Lamb for you, forward into death’s dark shadow land, He rides.
Your true King now teaches you to pray everyday “Thy kingdom come”. How does God’s kingdom come? When I get my way? When I feel just right? When all my loved ones are safe and healthy? No! “God’s kingdom comes when our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy Word and lead a godly life, here in time and hereafter in eternity.”
Is that what you would have King Jesus do for you as you enter Holy Week in the year of our Lord 2006? If you are here seeking His grace to believe His holy word and to lead a godly life, then rejoice! “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he.” Your king comes to you humbly, riding on lowly water and word and bread and wine.
Your King comes to you with forgiveness enough for all your sins, your hidden sins, your silly sins, your big sins, in fact your entire sinful life. This week is His glory! His death is His glory! His cross is His glory! All this is His glory because He glories in giving life to you! Risen from the grave that’s why Your King comes to you today! Risen from the grave that’s why Your King comes to you each week!
Otherwise it is all rather silly isn’t it? Otherwise why are you still in His parade 2000 years after that first Palm Sunday? Otherwise why should we gather this Thursday to receive the New Testament in His blood? Otherwise why should we gather this Friday to meditate on His atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world? Otherwise why should we gather here next week and each week to rejoice in His resurrection and receive His gifts?
The reason is the same! Your true King is not like the kings of earthly nations. This King and only this King brings you life from death. Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold your King comes to bring you life. AMEN.
posted by Luther Memorial Chapel at
4/11/2006
