Sermon: Palmarum (Palm Sunday) - 2021

28 March 2021

Text: Matt 21:1-9, 26:1-27:66

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

In film-making, there’s a technique we all know about called  the “flash-back.”  We are allowed to look back into time, sometimes from a character’s point of view, or from a God’s-eye view that fills in events from the past to help us understand the story.

But there’s also a technique called the “flash-forward,” where we are given the chance to look into events yet to come, and again, this can be from the point of view of a character, or from a God’s-eye view where we can see everything.

The readings on Palm Sunday form a present tense narrative of our Lord entering Jerusalem on Palm Sunday from Matthew 21, and then in our Gospel reading, we get a flash-forward to what is coming on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, from Matthew 26 and 27. 

And so Palm Sunday commemorates the beginning of Holy Week, when our Lord triumphantly entered the Holy City, and flashes forward as we celebrate the Sunday of the Passion, pondering the events yet to come that we will commemorate  later in the week. 

And as we entered our holy house of worship, named “Salem,” in honor of Jerusalem, we came in with palm branches, singing “Hosanna” – just like the “crowds that went before Him and followed Him,” waving branches and spreading them on the road as a royal welcome.  The crowds shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!  Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!  Hosanna in the highest!”

And Jesus rode into the city: “humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.”  But this image, dear friends, is a flashback to when King Solomon, the Son of David, rode triumphantly into David’s Royal City to be received as the king.  He too rode humbly on a donkey, and was greeted by the shouting crowds. 

Jesus is the Greater Son of David, and His conveyance on a donkey is also symbolic.  In the ancient world, if a king rode a horse, he came in war.  If he rode a donkey or mule, he came in peace.  Our Lord Jesus Christ comes to us in peace.  He makes war on Satan, but He does not make war on us.  For He has come not to condemn us, but to save us.  He will ride a horse in His return, but on this day, He rides a donkey.  And the crowds cry out “Hosanna!” a Hebrew word that means, “Save us!”  For a good king was seen as a savior, a shepherd who serves his people, not a tyrant who comes to devour them.

And yet, even as these crowds chant, “Hosanna,” we flash forward to those crowds who will chant, “Crucify!”

After He rides triumphantly into David’s Royal City, our Lord and King has business to attend to.  He will head straight to the temple and cleanse it, casting out the money-changers and merchants.  He will also perform miracles of healing.  He is establishing His lordship over even the chief priests and the scribes, and as the children in the temple continue to cry out, “Hosanna!” the authorities become resentful and indignant.  They challenge His authority, but our Lord makes them look like fools.  He then tells a series of parables explaining that those who will inherit the kingdom are not the pompous Pharisees, scribes, and elders, but rather the “rabble” and the children who sang “Hosanna” with their palms.  His parables also predict His own death, casting the religious leaders as the villains.  He then preaches a thunderous sermon against the scribes and Pharisees, and then prophesies about the end of the world. 

And it is here, dear brothers and sisters, that we begin our flash-forward.  The so-called high priest is Caiaphas (of course Jesus is the true High Priest and King).  The enemies of Jesus enter into a conspiracy at the home of Caiaphas to kill Jesus.  But they are afraid of the people.  For the people who welcomed Jesus as their King saw His miracles – including His recent raising of Lazarus from the dead.  They heard Him preach.  They knew that He is the Messiah.  So killing Him will be tricky.

And Judas, who came into Jerusalem with Jesus, has become a traitor.  He takes money to betray Jesus.  Our Lord celebrates His final Passover with the disciples, and just after taking Holy Communion from the hand of Jesus, Judas leaves to commit His treachery.  The Passover is a flash-back to the children of Israel leaving Egypt, led by their savior Moses.  They ate a sacrificial lamb whose blood protected them from the angel of death.  And when we celebrate Holy Communion, dear friends, it is also a flashback to this Last Supper and to the Passover.  For the blood of Jesus protects us from eternal death.  He is the “Lamb of God that takest away the sin of the world.”  He is the Passover Lamb to end all Passover lambs. 

Our flash-forward continues with Jesus preparing Himself for His arrest and passion, by prayer, in which the disciples cannot stay awake with Him.  And then we see Peter being told that He would deny Jesus, he who likewise joined our Lord in His ride into the Holy City.  And this would come true very soon.

Jesus is betrayed and arrested – no more treated like a king, but treated like a traitor to the nation.  Caiaphas conducts a sham trial, and sends Jesus to be tried by Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor.  Pilate believes Him to be innocent and tries everything he can think of to release Jesus, but the crowds, no longer shouting “Save us,” are now shouting, “Condemn Him!” 

Jesus the King who rode on the donkey of peace is mocked by the soldiers, men of war, who dress Him in royal robes, crown Him with thorns, and beat Him.  Instead of being led to the cheers of crowds waving palms, He is marched to the jeers of the mobs waving fists. 

Our flash forward takes us to the cross – for that is where this narrative finds its fulfillment, dear friends.  This is our Lord’s enthronement and coronation.  This is where He sues for peace between God and man, and this is where He makes war upon Satan and defeats him.  Christ’s blood shed on the tree fulfills the prayer, “Hosanna!” – for here is where He indeed saves us, our Shepherd King who lays down His life for those whom He rules. 

 Our Lord dies, the sacrificial Lamb without blemish, the Priest who offers the oblation.  And there are even more miraculous signs: darkness at noon, an earthquake, the temple curtain that separated God and man tears in two, and a resurrection of some of the dead in the tombs.  One of the Roman soldiers confessed Him as “the Son of God.”

 Our Lord is buried in the tomb and the tomb is closed up by a stone and guarded with troops.  A government seal was placed on the stone.  And this is where our flash-forward ends, dear friends.  We are held in suspense until we catch up with these events on Thursday and Friday of this week.  For we will follow Jesus to the cross and to the tomb this week, and we know what is to come on Sunday.

 Meanwhile, let us linger with the crowds and with the singing children.  Let us sing our “Hosannas” and welcome Him to be present with us here, in our own little corner of Jerusalem, our Salem, we who confess Him as our King, as our Savior, as our Priest, as our Lamb, and as the Christ, the Son of the living God.  Let us rejoice, knowing that our prayer, “Save us!” is answered unequivocally at the cross, and sealed by His blood, let us partake in His body and blood, the one and the same that was offered to the twelve, the very same born of the virgin Mary and who suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried – the same who is risen and who will return in glory.

All glory, laud, and honor
To You, Redeemer, King,
To whom the lips of children
Made sweet hosannas ring.

As You received their praises,
Accept the prayers we bring,
O source of every blessing,
Our good and gracious King.

Amen.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.