Why do we celebrate this scene? I mean, when you stop and think about it, there is really nothing all that impressive about it. The arrival of a movie star on the red carpet is met with more fanfare. After all, these eleven verses only record for us Jesus acquiring and riding a donkey into Jerusalem with a very excited crowd.
And yet, all the gospel writers record it. The Holy Spirit wants us to take note of this scene. He, the author of faith, shows us the object of our faith, Jesus, entering into Jerusalem in a wonderful kind of lowly pomp. But what is it we are seeing? What is it he is showing us? We see the Blessed Kingdom of Our Father David: A kingdom ruled by the all-knowing, all-powerful Word of God, a kingdom of peace and blessing for which we give thanks.
Part I: A kingdom ruled by the all-knowing, all-powerful Word of God
So, on the eve of his atonement and the Old Testament Passover that foreshadowed it, we see our king come and with him a kingdom ruling with the scepter of his Word. Mark records for us what must have seemed in all of the disciple's time with Jesus, the strangest thing he had ever asked two of them.
He tells them to go ahead and find a tied up donkey that no one has ever ridden upon, untie it and bring it to him. Oh, if someone objects, just tell them that the Lord has need of it. Go on now! Go get my ride! Now this account may be so familiar with you that you perhaps have ceased to realize the foolishness involved.
Let me put Jesus' command in modern day terms. You and you, I want you to go up the street three blocks and you will find a bulldozer parked in front of a construction site. Start her up and bring her back to me. If any of the crew gives you a hard time, tell them that your pastor needs it and they will let you have it. I think you would both politely decline. Pastor is out of his gourd!
Think of the barrage of objections that you would have? How do you know the bulldozer is there? How do you know it will start? How do you know I won't be savagely attacked by a bunch of construction workers for taking their property? And why a bulldozer, why not a Corvette? And yet he still asks them. And they do what he says. And amazingly, it all goes exactly as he foretold.
What Jesus' entrance into Palm Sunday shows us is this: underneath the foolishness and poverty of Jesus' entrance, is this what Paul told the Philippians, "Jesus Christ, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking on the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness, and being found in the appearance as a man, he became obedient to death, even death on a cross."
Believers have an ability that none other has. Unbelievers can only see what they can perceive with their senses. But not believers! Believers can see past our senses into eternity. And the eye of faith shows us far more than human eyes can see.
First, this King is greater than all others. He knows all. He sees all. Did Julius Caesar see the plot to assassinate him? Did Alexander the Great see that he would die at 30? No! But Jesus sees as well into the future as he does into the past. It was he who spoke through Zechariah and it was he who knew that this donkey would be tied up in this place and that his owners would ask his disciples why they were taking it.
And this King is pleased to disguise his power: The Lord tells his disciples to go and bring him a donkey. He tells us to wash with Word and to water. He tells us to eat a piece of bread and a drink a sip of wine to come into contact with him an all other believers. And he tells us to stand in front of kings and those who hate us armed with nothing but the gospel. It seems so weak, so foolish. It seems so puny to the might of earthly kingdoms.
And yet we follow. For this voice causes us to trust him. Faith leads us to silence our sinful objections. Faith leads us to follow the path he tells us to walk. Faith tells us to do what he has asked. And when some stand in objection to our work, and yes, there will be many, we simply speak the Word again to them.
Think of what Paul said to the Corinthians, "When I came to you brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God…I came to you in weakness and fear, with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with the demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on man's wisdom, but on God's power."
And it has been by this powerful Word in voice, washing and meal that has established the kingdom of God. It has been the voice of the Savior in the mouths of his disciples that has causes the kingdom of King-Messiah to extend to all the continents, races and peoples. It has been the gentle voice of the Messiah, calling, inviting and commanding his people to see him carrying their burdens to Calvary that is the cause of our joy this Sunday.
Part II: A kingdom of peace and blessing for which we give thanks
The part about Palm Sunday that is the most memorable, of course, is the praise of the people with waving palms. Mark tells us of the response of the people that day to their king. The disciples take their own cloaks off of them and throw them on the colt for a makeshift saddle. Then a throng of worshippers throw their cloaks down in front of him and cut palm branches and throw them and wave them as Jesus enters.
Then we hear their memorable words of Psalm 118: Hosanna! This is the only time in Jesus' ministry was he welcomed into Jerusalem in such a way. The people were ecstatic. Here was the King! Here was the Son of David! Here was the one who would restore the kingdom of God! And we answer "Yes" and "Amen" to all of these songs of praise.
Quickly the shouts of praise on Sunday turned into angry cries for crucifixion. Soon the disciples so willing to follow him and cast their garments for his service scattered in the garden of Gethsemane, one even fleeing naked in the streets out of fear. The answer for this is simple enough: they honored him with their lips, but their hearts were far from him.
Many saw his bold entrance into Jerusalem during Passover as a sign that perhaps now he would cast the Romans down and re-establish David's earthly kingdom. But when they realized his destination was not a marble palace but the wood of Calvary, soon they left him. The same is the case today! When those who gobble the sweetness of the gospel feel the gut ache of withdrawal from their sinful desires and sinful pride, soon they too go looking for other food.
As the devil relates in Stephen King's novel Needful Things, "O, that carpenter from Nazareth, A promising young man, but he died poorly." Many rushed to Jesus thinking he could and would grant all their earthly desires. Many rushed to Jesus expecting a reward for their works. But when instead he told them to cast aside their works for his and replace the kingdom of this world for the Kingdom of his Word, soon they deserted him.
When we see the true purpose of Christ, to die so that we might live, and the true cost of faith, death to ourselves so that we may live with Christ, we are shocked and appalled and quickly leave him. As one pastor put it, "The Christ who comes today is the same who sat with a shabby, dirty soldier's coat on his bleeding back and a crown of thorns set sideways on his head; with a mock scepter in his hand and the spittle of drunken soldiers running down his face. He is just the same. And we accord him the same treatment!"
And yet, in his ride we see the reason why we praise him on this day. He does not conquer by the means of power or might. He does not kick in the door of our hearts like a parent does to their stubborn teenager. He enters patiently, humbly, offering the merit of his death and sufferings to all, free of charge. As Paul tells the Corinthians, "You know of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, for your sakes he became poor, so that through his poverty you might become rich."
This is the cause of our acclamation again today. For me he rides, for me he dies, O Holy King, your love we sing, with waving palms sing precious Psalms to the Lord's Anointed. For despite our spite, regardless of our rejection, un-phased by our unbelief, he rides to die so that we might live. This is a love unknown to us. And for it, we jump and sing.
Romans tell us this, "Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrated his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us…we rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation."
So we shout, we leap, and we give our all and our best for his acclamation. This ride is a ride of love that bears the burden of my sins to the cross. This is a ride of peace and reconciliation. Indeed, our lives are one long Palm Sunday, where we shout, "Hosanna! God Save me!" and in recognition of the salvation, "We sing, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"
Amen
Sermon for Palm Sunday
Text: Mark 11:1-10
Preached at Mount Olive Lutheran Church
April 9, 2006
