Palm Sunday/ Sunday of the Passion

Palm Sunday/ Sunday of the Passion (C)

April 10, 2022

Text: John 12:12-19

            He rode into the city on a donkey.  And the crowd could not mistake what was happening.  In many ways, He rode in as a triumphant King, as the Victor, proclaiming His dominion and strength over His enemies.  And yet, there was a humility about it.  This King comes in peace.  The donkey…  The colt, the foal of a donkey…  It is not unlike Solomon riding in on David’s mule, the true and rightful King of Israel.  You remember that one, right?  Adonijah had appointed himself as King in David’s place.  And when Nathan and Bathsheba brought the matter to David’s attention, David commanded that Solomon ride the royal mule to Gihon, where Zadok the Priest and Nathan the Prophet were to anoint Solomon King (Prophet, Priest, and King!), and then process back to the palace, with trumpets, and shouts of “Long live King Solomon!” (1 Kings 1:34; ESV).  Whereupon the young man would sit on his father’s throne and be King in his father’s place.  Now, on this Sunday in Jerusalem, history seems to be repeating itself.  There is the pretender to the throne, “King” Herod.  And there are the Romans, Caesar, and the governor, Pontius Pilate.  Well… It is high time once again that a Son of David ride in and assume the divinely appointed seat of power. 

            And they all know the prophecy from Zechariah: “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).  Indeed, messianic expectations are high, and Zion rejoices greatly, and all Jerusalem is shouting aloud, “Hosanna!”  Save us, now.  And the great Hallel Psalm, Psalm 118: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” (John 12:13; cf. Ps. 118:25).  They strew their palm branches, the symbol of messianic victory, and spread their cloaks before Him on the road. 

            And actually, the crowds are right, as far as it goes.  This Son of David is the true and rightful King of Israel.  And the Prophet, and the Priest, all rolled into one.  This is the establishment of David’s throne forever, which Solomon’s rule only foreshadows.  This is the fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophecy.  Jesus has come to do battle, to deliver Israel from all her enemies, to put the pretenders to open shame, to be crowned, elevated, enthroned.  To claim His Kingdom.  To be glorified.  To raise what was dead to new life, as He had raised Lazarus.  To save us now, Hosanna!

            But not at all in the way the crowds expect.  This will not be the raising of an army for military conquest.  This is no political coup.  This King rides into Jerusalem triumphantly to give Himself into the hands of His enemies.  To be betrayed into the hands of sinners.  By one of His own, no less.  Willingly.  Intentionally.  To surrender.  To submit Himself.  To suffer.  To embrace the instrument of His own execution.  To bear it Himself to the Place of a Skull.  To give Himself in exchange… for murderers, and thieves, and insurrectionists.  For priests, and governors, and vassal kings.  For crowds who shout “Hosanna” on Sunday, but change their tune to, “Crucify, crucify him!” on Friday (Luke 23:21).  For peasants who mock Him and soldiers who pierce Him.  For disciples who flee, and hide, and deny Him.  For you and your sins.  For your fear and denial.  For your grumbling and bitterness, and your disappointment in Jesus for saving you now, for delivering you, not in the way you expected or prescribed, by political or military victory, or even better, a divine blaze of glory.  But by dying.  By dying for your sins.  By shedding His blood.  By cross and suffering and utter defeat. 

            His crown is not the gold of Eden, but the thorns of the curse.  His throne is not the ivory of Solomon, but the wood of the crucifix.  No trumpets sound before Him to proclaim Him King, but the titulus, the little sign written by unbelieving Pilate, bearing the Name and the charge against the condemned: “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews” (John 19:19).  His victory is forgiveness for His murderers, who know not what they do.  It is the promise of Paradise to a condemned criminal.  It is His faithfulness to His Father to the very end, and the committing of His spirit to the Father’s hands.  And when He breathes His last, it is finished.  That is, His suffering has come to an end.  But even more, the tyranny of those who actually enslave Israel and the whole world has come to an end.  The ruler of this world is judged.  Sin has been done to death.  And death itself… well, just wait until the Third Day.

            And see how Israel has expanded in the death of this King.  Not just Jews, but now Gentiles come under His gracious rule.  A Roman Centurion who declares, “Certainly this man was innocent” (Luke 23:47).  Repentance and the forgiveness of sins proclaimed in this King’s Name to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem (Luke 24:47), then to all Judea and Samaria, and finally to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).  This Gospel proclaimed to you.  You, brought into His Kingdom.  You, grafted into Israel.  His suffering and death for you.  His victory for you. 

            His disciples didn’t understand these things.  But when He was glorified, which is a reference to His being lifted up on the cross to save us now… after His glory was manifested in His resurrection, in His breathing out the Holy Spirit on His disciples, in His ascension, and the Spirit blowing through on Pentecost… when He was glorified, “then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him” (John 12:16).  The Spirit called these things to mind, as was our Lord’s promise (John 14:26).  And in this way, what is incomprehensible to human reason, becomes the very substance of the holy Christian faith.  The death of Jesus Christ on the cross is His victory over sin, death, and the devil.  He laid down His life for sinners, and in three days He will take it up again. 

            Our Lord rode into the Holy City, in lowly pomp, for this very purpose: To die for our sins and win our salvation.  His ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts.  They are infinitely higher, as the heavens are higher than the earth (Is. 55:9).  Jesus came as King, not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).  And we know that, even as He came in lowliness and humility to be the Sacrifice of Atonement for our sins, so the risen Lord Jesus will come again in glory on the Last Day to judge the living and the dead.  But we know that because of His blood and death, we need not fear that Day.  We look forward to it with eager anticipation and rejoicing.  For our sins are forgiven.  We are declared righteous by virtue of Christ.  And on that Day, we, too, will rise from the dead.  Not as Lazarus was raised, and had to die again.  But as Jesus is risen.  Glorified.  Exalted.  Comforted, healed, and whole. 

            In the meantime, the Lord still comes to us in lowliness, humble, but righteous, and having salvation, mounted, not on a donkey, but on Words and water, bread and wine.  He comes in peace.  He comes as our King, to deliver the gifts of His salvation.  To make us citizens of His Kingdom.  To keep us safe within the fortress of His Church, and fend off our every foe.  We pray the words of the Palm Sunday crowd: “Hosanna!  Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!”  And He comes in the flesh, live and in person, with His crucified and risen body and blood, to save us now. 

            Like the disciples, we don’t always understand His way of saving us.  We cry out in distress, hoping for spectacular deliverance, and He sends a lowly preacher.  We are in the throes of suffering and death, asking for a miracle, and He sends a man to tell you your sins are forgiven and give you Communion.  But now that He has been glorified, now that He has been coronated and lifted up on the cross, now that He is risen and lives and reigns, and sends you His Spirit, you remember.  This is how He wins.  This is His triumph.  This is His victory, His Kingdom, and His glory.  He rides into the Church on the Means of Grace, and you can’t mistake what is happening.  The King has come to save you now, the Son of David, Son of God.  All your enemies have been cast out, and all pretenders put to open shame.  Long live King Jesus!  He died.  But now He lives.  Hosanna, loud Hosanna!  The King now comes to save.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.