Palm Sunday, 2017
John 12:12-19
“The Son of David”
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
“Everyone loves a parade.” Indeed, parades are wonderful events! They are occasions for celebration. Most of you have probably attended a parade. Maybe you've even seen one of St. Paul's floats in the Beecher Independence Day Parade. Parades are held for all kinds of events some are even held to celebrate people, such as one honoring a hometown soldier and hero that returns from military service.
In our text today from John 12, we have depicted for us a parade. The crowds don’t throw ticker tape, but they wave palms and lay some of them down before Jesus. A brass band doesn’t play John Philip Sousa, but choruses chant psalms. The honoree is not riding in a Cadillac convertible, stretch limo, a float or even a Crocker's Coach, but on the back of a donkey. This is a parade unlike any that you’ve ever seen. It’s a parade for a king—in fact, for the King! But he is a King who isn’t what the crowds expect. The crowds appear to glorify this King in the procession. But the fact is that this is just the start of a weeklong procession that will ultimately lead to the King’s coronation…a coronation with a crown not of gold but of thorns; a coronation without the chants of long live the king…but of crucify him…this is a coronation; a coronation of death.
Processions in the ancient world served to glorify rulers and generals. In the motion picture Alexander (2004), which depicts the conquests of Alexander the Great in the fourth century BC, the conquering hero enters into the city of Babylon and is welcomed by adoring multitudes. Alexander parades through the centr of this ancient and glorious city mounted on his stately white horse and flanked by generals. Behind him follow rank after rank of soldiers who have devoted their lives to their leader’s military campaigns. The citizens of Babylon greet Alexander with cheers and songs of praise. They throw flowers and leafy branches before his path. They reach out their hands in hopes of touching this man they consider to be half-god. Alexander’s entry into the city of Babylon was one in which he was glorified.
“The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ‘Blessed is the King of Israel!’” (John 12:12-13) Here we see a huge crowd praising Jesus triumphantly as He comes to Jerusalem. The crowd appears to offer similar glorification to Jesus as Alexander received in the movie. The crowd waved Palms which were a symbol of their pride in the nation of Israel which they hoped would be freed from Rome; an Independence day celebration. The people shout with great acclimation that King David's son had finally returned.
As far as the people understood; Jesus seems to be claiming glory by assuming the posture of a Davidic king. “Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written, ‘Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.’” (John 12:14-15) A donkey might not sound very impressive but the fact is that kings in the lineage of David processed by riding donkeys. In 1 Kings 1:28ff we are told of King David making his son Solomon King. David even had the priest, Zadok, and Nathan the prophet place Solomon on his own donkey and led him to the city of Gihon to be anointed King of Israel. Zechariah also foretold that the Messiah would enter Jerusalem riding on a donkey “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (Zechariah 9:9)
Huge crowds had gathered in Jerusalem for the Passover. It is said that up to 1 million pilgrims could have been in Jerusalem at the time Jesus entered on Palm Sunday. Those gathered welcomed Jesus into the capital city of Israel as King. The people were ecstatic over what they had heard: “Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. Many people, because they had heard that he had given this miraculous sign, went out to meet him. So the Pharisees said to one another, ‘See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!’” (John 12:17-19) Even Jesus enemies were now threatened by the following and popularity of Jesus.
But the crowds misunderstood Christ’s mission; they expected him to be a military leader; an earthly king like David. They weren't the only ones…the disciples also misunderstood Christ’s mission expecting him to be an earthly ruler. In January of 2000, I was able to go to Israel as part of a class while attending Concordia University Wisconsin. I was able to see the Temple Mount, the great walls of the old city, the area where most scholars believe the Temple to have stood. The grand entrance to the area would have been from the East passing in front of the Roman fortress and garrison. If Jesus were to come in as a King to conquer this is where he would have come in…but instead Jesus came in from the South, through a small entrance. Jesus did not want to incite the Romans for his “kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18:36)
But we, Christians of the 21st century, misunderstand Jesus’ mission too. There are many who believe, teach, and profess that Jesus will come back again to rule over this world for either a certain number of years before the end of the world or after judgment day. There is no basis in Scripture for either of these beliefs. As Lutherans we do not believe this for Jesus says, “My kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18:36) But we too misunderstand Christ’s mission for we want Jesus to serve our self-determined needs and wants. We want Jesus to take away all of our problems. We want Jesus to help us win the lottery. We want Jesus to save our marriage. We want Jesus to give us our dream job. We want and want and want…and forget that Jesus gives all that we truly need…which is better and greater than our wildest dreams.
Jesus procession into Jerusalem truly leads to his ultimate glorification—his death on the cross. “At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him that they had done these things to him.” (John 12:16) Jesus true glorification did not take place on that first Palm Sunday but on Good Friday. Jesus identifies his own glorification with his death with the words “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” (John 12:23-24) Glory through dying…glory through dying for sinners that hated him…it is hard for the world to understand the concept of glory through death. How can you believe in a God that dies…that dies on a cross…that dies being mocked…that dies with common criminals?
Jesus’ death is his most glorious moment because it is the accomplishment of his mission to redeem sinners. Jesus’ death and resurrection fulfill God’s plan of salvation, revealed in the Old Testament Scriptures. God’s plan of salvation is that his Son bears the curse of sin so that sinners are forgiven. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:16-17) Because of Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection, you are reconciled to God…you are forgiven. (2 Corinthians 5:19)
Today we come together to glorify our King…we glorify Jesus! For we know where Jesus went and what Jesus did on the cross for us. We know that the Victory has been won. So as we travel to Gethsemane again this week and hear again of our Lord's sacrifice for us...we go sober minded...and yet we go knowing that Our Redeemer lives! Amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. Amen.
Palm Sunday is a day to rej0ice and reflect on Jesus few years on this earth, he acheive more than any King or President ever will. He give the sick hope that he is about to die for mankind.
Posted by: Betty DrakeMontgomery | April 09, 2017 at 08:27 AM