Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Lebanon, OR
Palm Sunday (Palmarum) + April 14, 2019
Text: John 12:12-19
The anticipation was great. This wasn’t something just thrown together at the last minute. The people of Israel had been waiting for literally centuries for this day to arrive. The Son of David had finally come. How could they know? The signs pointed to this: The water into wine, the healings, the feeding of the 5,000, walking on the water, and raising the dead.[1] Now it’s nearing the culmination of the Son of David coming to accomplish what was foretold: “I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” (2 Samuel 7:12-13).
That is why they gave Jesus a king’s welcome, laying palm branches on the ground before Him, and crying out, “Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” They were anticipating great things from Jesus, that He would bring an everlasting Kingdom of perfect righteousness and justice. They were ecstatic about His arrival.
In contrast, you know who people aren’t excited to see arrive? A representative from the government. In our lives today, take for instance the county sheriff. Far different from joyful anticipation, there’s a dread as he (or she) parks in your driveway, gets his things in order, and then walks up to your door. What could it be for? This visit usually isn’t just dropping by; there’s something behind it. What could it be? The good thing would be a welfare check (although that usually means your neighbors are worried about you). But it could also mean someone is serving you with a lawsuit or divorce papers. Oh great! I guarantee nobody who gets a surprise visit like this says, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the law.
But, “Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord” because of what had been foretold about His coming: “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming to you” and from the original Zechariah 9 adds: “Righteous and having salvation is he.” The reason Jesus arrives is to bring something not found anywhere else in the world. The sheriff brings notice of wrongdoing, impending condemnation, of failures and troubles. Your conscience brings up the ways you’ve failed family and friends, how you’ve hurt others with your words and actions, and how people have put their confidence in you and you’ve let them down…again.
Blessed is Jesus, who comes in the Name of the Lord because He has righteousness and salvation with Him. The prophecy from Zechariah goes on to say, “Humble and mounted on a donkey.” (Zechariah 9:9) He comes not only as a King, but as a servant for your good. Even though He is very God in flesh, He humbled Himself to take your place under condemnation. Jesus came to carry the sins of the world—your wrongs, your failings, your hurts, all the putrid stuff that weighs you down. He humbly carried all of it to the cross so that you might be free before God. All of His passion that you heard today was in service to you.
The people that day, expected a very different fulfillment of the promise to King David. Most expected Jesus to reign from Jerusalem in an earthly kingdom. But that wasn’t the plan. Just a few days later, the crowds were incited to shout, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” (John 19:6) He would reign, but His enthronement was nailed to the cross. His Kingdom would not be visible, but hidden and received by faith.
That’s where we find ourselves. God’s promise has been fulfilled. The Son of David did come to reign, and the Kingdom He established will last for everlasting ages. But we have not reached the end of the age, the consummation. So, we who believe in our King receive what He brings us: His righteousness and true salvation.
That’s what lifts the
weight of what we continue to face in life—the unexpected bad turns, being
cheated out of money, our health declining.
Because a Christian has the righteousness and salvation of Jesus, these
troubles—though painful—are temporary.
They literally are not the end of the world. Our sufferings should be of no surprise to
us, for He says, “If anyone would come
after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
(Matthew 16:24) So, if we follow in His
train, singing Hosannas to Himn, this teaches us that God is not taken offguard
by the things we suffer. His sinless Son
suffered all these things that were not His sins, so that through His
righteousness and salvation, we would have peace. Because Jesus has served us, the end of the
world will unveil our hopes to be true. Amen.
[1] The seven signs in John include: Changing water into wine at Cana in John 2:1-11; Healing the royal official’s son in Capernaum in John 4:46-54; Healing the paralytic at Bethesda in John 5:1-15; Feeding the 5000 in John 6:5-14; Jesus walking on water in John 6:16-24; Healing the man blind from birth in John 9:1-7; The raising of Lazarus in John 11:1-45