Sunday of the Passion - Palm Sunday - Palmarum - March 28, 2010

Holy Week – Palm Sunday Procession - Palmarum
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (March 10, 2010)
One Year Series

“Hosanna in the Highest”

Readings:
John 12:12-19
Psalm 118:19-29
Zechariah 9:9-12
Philippians 2:5-11
Matthew 26:1 – 27:66

Sermon Form: Homiletical Plot

+INI+

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen

The text for today is from the Gospel lesson from St. John the 12th chapter.

John 12:12-19 (ESV)

12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 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!” 14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, 15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” 16 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. 17 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. 18 The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Palm Sunday how wonderful to wave those Palms again! How great to see the cross process into the church how wonderful to think of the crowd so happy to see Christ the Messiah come into Jerusalem. “Hosanna”, they shouted a word which means, “Save us please!.” This word Hosanna, is an exclamation aimed toward a ruler who has the power to save. Hosanna, save us, Hosanna, save us you ruler in the highest. “Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest, blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest.” The crowd was already assembled for the Passover feast so they gathered branches of palm trees and ran to see the parade. Don’t you remember this man who had raised the dead man named Lazarus from the grave, the man Jesus how wonderful, Hosanna, Hosanna! Save us. And now today those same words shouted so long ago, those palm branches which we still wave, these words and sights now remind us of Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem and they also tell us that the celebration of the Easter victory is near.

But, wait a minute. Not so fast. This is not the end holy week. And Holy Week is not just a single holy day, but days of Holiness to remember what Christ did for us. Our Lenten services prepared us for these days. In our mid-week services we remembered the last words of Christ on the cross. Today is Palm Sunday we wave the Palm branches, our hearts and minds beckon and recall past Palm Sunday services, Hosanna in the Highest, save us.

Today, we hear the readings for the day. Together in the Psalm we proclaimed, “24 This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. 25 Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success! 26 Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord!”(Ps. 118:24-26) Then from the mouth of the prophet Zechariah, “9 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, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”(Zech 9:9)

It can’t get much better than this can it? Yes it can! Hear what St. Paul tells us, “9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Wow! How exciting! Hosanna, save us please! Christ has arrived, we glorify His Name, and we glorify that He came in the Name of the Lord. Rejoice! Confess! Bow down on you knees! Wave those Palm Branches!

But hold on it gets better yet....... Then comes our Gospel reading from Matthew. Wow! ALL of Matthew chapters 26 AND 27. That long reading was so wonderful I will re-read it all for you right now...

The rooster just crowed.

It took a week for the Jerusalem crowd to turn against Christ, but truthfully, we just turned from God’s Word in a matter of seconds.

How quickly the “Hosannas, save us please”....turns into God save us from hearing that long reading again. No, no, no, please don’t do that. It was way too long. It was way too drawn out. It was too underwhelming. It was too gloomy. I can’t hold my Palm branch in the air for that long story again. I’m not ready for that beaten up, stricken, bruised, and bloody Christ just yet. Just stop and tell me again about that parade into Jerusalem again, Hosanna in the Highest?

Now, I not only welcome you to the crowd in Jerusalem, I tell you the truth we are the crowd in Jerusalem. We love to sing the praises of our Lord, we love to praise Him, but we in no way want to acknowledge why the parade had to happen. We gladly say Hosanna, save us, but we don’t want to think about or acknowledge.....WHY.... WHY do we need to be saved? From what do we need to be saved? Please tell me why we need to be saved?

Because, truly, it is you and I who have sinned against God. It is you and I who deserve His wrath. It is truly not Christ who should be heading toward that cross, but rather it should be us. Oh yes, of course we say we would make that trip to the cross instead of Him. But the truth of the matter is that we would get just passed the accolades of the beginning of that Holy Week, and then I think, we would want to cut that trip short. Maybe right before the end of the Lord’s Supper? Yeah, I’ll take the no betrayal, no trial, just the palm branches and a holy meal, please and could I make that to go so I don’t have all day to sit here in church and ponder all the long readings and that Holy Week stuff....

Yes, indeed we are that crowd in Jerusalem, just looking for a parade, a king who would be the Messiah to come and take away all that attacks us in this world. Hosanna, save us from Herod! Hosanna save us from our sickness. Hosanna save us from the Romans! Hosanna save us from all our temptations! Hosanna, save us and give us back Jerusalem! Hosanna save us, and give us the new Jerusalem! Oh yes indeed, Blessed is He. Now just wave those Palm branches and go home, move along, pay no attention to Holy Week, it’s all taken care of nothing to see here.

But there is no triumphal entry without the rest of Holy Week. Jesus fulfills the prophecy by riding into Jerusalem on, “a colt the foal of a donkey.” But it does not end there. Jesus then goes to the upper room and tells the disciples, “This is my body, this is my blood.” And shortly after that meal Jesus was betrayed into the hands of His enemies, tried and convicted of a crime He never did. They scourged Him, they put a crown of thorns on Him, they crucified Him, He died and was buried and on the third day He rose again, according to the scriptures. And who is this they, that did all these things to Jesus? It is us, it is you and me. “Hosanna, save us?” We say, “He couldn’t even save Himself,” and by the way someone in the crowd on the day of the crucifixion said that too.

But all these things were necessary to be completed by Christ, for He did hear our cries, Hosanna, save us from our sins. Because Christ did not commit any sin, yet He bore all our sins, right to His death, even to death on the cross. Yes, all that we have done, and that we have left undone is forgiven. Hosanna, Jesus has saved us. All our sins and misdeeds? Hosanna, Jesus has saved us. And what of all that depresses us, all that causes our faith to weaken, all the anger, all the worry, all the aches, all the very real pain which we endure? Hosanna, Jesus has saved you.

And how do I know? In your baptism, in the water and the Word, Hosanna, Jesus saved you. In the Holy Supper of our Lord, Hosanna, Jesus forgives you, and saves you, and reminds you that your sins are forgiven. Yes, we are the crowd, we are the crowd blessed by Jesus who came to save us. Hosanna, we have been saved and Jesus Christ gives you the promise that you too will make a triumphant entry into the new Jerusalem. And there, you will be, “standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and [with] palm branches in [your] hands”(Rev. 7:9) Indeed you have the promise of eternal joy, as you say Hosanna. Jesus saved us from our tears, Hosanna. Jesus saved us from our fears, Hosanna! Jesus saved us from our weeping, “Blessed is He, comes in the Name of the Lord.”

In Jesus Christ’s death on the cross for you, you will not only wave those Palm branches today, but you will wave them before Christ in heaven. Raise your Palm branches and thank God, for Jesus Christ. Hosanna, save us? Hosanna, indeed! God in Jesus Christ did save, even the likes of us. Amen.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

+SDG+