Sermon
for Palm Sunday, April 5, 2020
Grace to you and peace
from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Zechariah 9:9-10 9 Rejoice
greatly, Daughter of Zion! Shout,
Daughter of Jerusalem! Look! Your King is coming to you. He is righteous and brings salvation. He is humble and is riding on a donkey, on a
colt, the foal of a donkey. 10 I
will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem. The battle bow will be taken away, and he
will proclaim peace to the nations. His
kingdom will extend from sea to sea, from the River to the ends of the earth. (EHV)
Dear jubilant
friends of Christ,
What a joyful prophecy—a vision of the triumphant
entrance of the King of Israel into Jerusalem
About
now, some could be questioning my sanity.
Peace seems like a distant dream to many people. If you listen to the news, and maybe even
your neighbors, what you hear is that there is no peace. They’ll say that our
nation is led by idiots, our economy is collapsing, soon there could be
fighting and mayhem in the streets, a new disease is creeping closer and
closer, we are all going to die, and there is no one who can help. Yet, I can assure you, we have every reason
to rejoice.
The
Children of Israel wanted a strong and able leader. That had been the case throughout their
history. The Israelites were excited
when Saul was chosen as their king because he looked like king material. Though David wasn’t a tall man like Saul, he
soon became known for his powerful abilities in war, so the people were pleased
to have a powerful, victorious king.
Flash
forward about nine hundred years. Though
ruled by Rome, the hopes and dreams of the Jewish people were tied up in the
promise of a Savior. Generations had
anticipated the arrival of a Son of David to be their king. They expected a bold warrior who would drive
out the Roman enemy. They wanted the
Messiah to be everything David had been, and more.
This
morning, we examine one of the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah. But here, Zechariah foretells something that
runs a little different than what the popular Jewish opinion expected. He tells us to Rejoice! Your humble King brings peace.
In our
Gospel lesson, we heard the direct fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophecy. The people who met Jesus on the road that day
remembered this prophecy that foretold the arrival of their king, so they rejoiced
with all the excitement Zechariah had foreseen.
Since they had heard of the miracles Jesus had been performing, they
rightly concluded that He was the promised Mighty King. They also remembered the part about that
King’s vast dominion, which made them confident that Israel would now again
enjoy fame, prosperity, power, and wealth after Jesus set up His kingdom.
The
trouble with the Jews’ understanding of Old Testament prophecy, however, is
they missed God’s point. They missed the
point that the Messiah was coming not to establish a kingdom on earth, but to
win redemption and salvation for His people.
Many of them even missed the point that they needed saving, so as you
know, just five days after joyfully celebrating Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem,
these same people were condemning Him to death for being such a
disappointment.
You and
I, also, live in a world where expectations about the Savior sometimes lean toward
an earthly king. Many people are
questioning why we are having the problems we have. Is God not paying attention? If Jesus is God, why doesn’t He fix this
pandemic? Is He punishing us, or some
others, for the sins of our world? Many
have guessed what sins God might be punishing, but their proclamations often seem
more like self-glorifying babble than actual preaching of God’s Word. Others simply hope in Jesus for a time of
peaceful existence here on earth, and nothing more.
There is,
however, more to this prophecy than some assumed. Zechariah prophesied, “Look! Your King is coming to you. He is righteous and brings salvation. He is humble and is riding on a donkey, on a
colt, the foal of a donkey.” Notice
that the promised King wasn’t displaying power and might. Rather, He arrives on the back of a pretty
insignificant animal. No one thinks of a
donkey, especially a half-grown colt, as an elegant mount for a king. Throughout history, kings sought the most
magnificent means of transportation. A
strong war horse, a fast chariot, or even a mighty elephant. Today, a tricked-out limousine, jet, or helicopter
make appropriate rides for a king, but never a donkey! Donkeys are beasts of burden, more like
slaves for the masses than a suitable carriage for a great king. Yet, the Messiah arrives “humble.” Jesus acknowledged this prophecy as He
said, “I honor My Father, and…I do not
seek My own glory.” (John 8:49-50)
In our
epistle lesson this morning, we heard a little more about Jesus’ humility. Though Jesus is the true Son of God, He
didn’t let that stand in the way of His coming to save us. Instead, Jesus set aside His divine glory to
enter this world in human flesh. “He humbled Himself and became obedient.”
(Philippians 2:8) Jesus became obedient
to that which was condemning us, God’s perfect Law, because that was the only
way to rescue us from the condemnation of death we each deserved for our sin.
Zechariah
wrote, “He is righteous and brings salvation.” Jesus entered this world with the perfect
righteousness that only He, as the Son of God, possesses. Salvation isn’t something He had to earn for
Himself, since He was already, and always remains, pure and holy. As the perfectly righteous Son of God, Jesus
deserved nothing but honor, but our King is humble; therefore, He set aside that
privilege to make the sins of the world His own. Rather than boast of His own glory and
righteousness, Jesus entered our world as a servant, and He died on the cross to
pay the penalty owed by all of us unfaithful servants.
Our
sermon text says, “I will cut off the
chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem; the battle bow will be taken
away, and he will proclaim peace to the nations. His kingdom will extend from sea to sea, from
the River to the ends of the earth.”
At first impression, it sounds like this King might win a worldly
peace. Thus the Jews concluded that because Jesus didn’t make Himself a king and
drive out the Roman government, He must not be God’s Messiah. Many people in our world also reach this
conclusion. How, can Jesus be the
God-King, they ask, if He allowed Himself to be killed? It’s the same question people have when they
ask, “How can God really be God if He allows bad things to happen?” Yet, Jesus told Pilate plainly, "My kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18:36)
My friends, what gets so many people in trouble with
interpretation, is the assumption that all prophecy relates solely to the
events of this world. Therefore, the
assumption of the Jews, and many others, is that the Messiah will bring peace
to our earthly lives, but Jesus said, “Do not
think that I came to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” (Matthew
10:34)
When Zechariah wrote of peace, he was speaking of a
time when there will be no trouble, no pain, no suffering, and no sin. There is only one time to which this can
refer: the moment we enter God’s heaven.
Lots of people look for a time of peace on earth, but the Bible tells us
again and again that this world will always be full of sorrow and pain. Jesus said, “In this world you will
have trouble.”
(John 16:33) And, “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, because all
these things must happen; but that is not yet the end. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom
against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.” (Matthew 24:6-7) As long as this world exists there will be
pestilence, plague, war, and pain, for it exists under the curse of sin which
is death. Yet, Zechariah says the
Promised King “will proclaim peace to the nations.”
Our theme
today is Rejoice!
Your humble King brings peace.
If our happiness is solely determined by the events of this world,
we will always have trouble rejoicing. It’s
easy to demand, right now, a little peace, better health, less death, you name
it, rather than realize that Jesus has already won peace for eternity. As we see and hear of all the troubles that
afflict the world, as we ourselves deal with the danger of a new disease, it’s
easy to forget that we already have the true peace Jesus came to win.
In case
you missed it, let me repeat that Good News.
Through Christ Jesus, you and I already have peace with God. True
peace was lost the moment Adam and Eve fell into sin. That true peace could only be regained by Him
who had no sin, our Lord Jesus. Thus, St
Paul wrote, “Just as through the disobedience of one man
the many became sinners, so also through the obedience of one man the many will
become righteous.” (Romans 5:19)
Never
underestimate what that means. If we
underestimate Christ’s peace, or if we only look to Him for earthly help and healing,
then we have fallen into the same idolatry of which the Jews were guilty. If we dream up a messiah of our own
imagination, then we are in line for an eternity in hell. If we only look to Jesus to make this life
easier, to make this world more comfortable for ourselves, or others, then we
no longer have faith in the Messiah God sent to save the world from eternal
condemnation. However, without the peace
Christ has won between God and man, there can be no peace. Without peace with God, we would only have
eternal conflict and pain all the way to the depths of hell.
Jesus
told His disciples, “the Son of Man came
to seek and to save the lost." (Luke 19:10)
Contrary to what the Jews thought when they were throwing palm
branches on the road before Jesus, our sermon text promises a Savior who would
win peace between God and the human race. That peace gives eternal life in heaven—a life
in which there will be no more pain or war, no sickness, sorrow, or death.
Dear friends, through His perfect life and
sacrificial death, Jesus has won our peace with God. His work for our eternal peace is complete,
and nothing more is needed. Therefore, believe
the promises God’s Word gives concerning Jesus and His work: our humble King
entered Jerusalem that long ago Sunday on His way to suffer the death of the
cross and the punishment of hell for you and me. Because of His faithful submission to His
Father’s will, “His kingdom will extend
from sea to sea, from the River to the ends of the earth.”
On the horrible cross where Jesus shed His holy
blood, the victory over sin, death, and Satan was won, and Jesus’ victory was
given to you when, by Word and Sacrament, you were brought to faith in Him as
your Savior. It is announced to you,
again, every time you hear that you are forgiven for Jesus’ sake, and it is
renewed for you every time you partake of His body and blood in His holy
Supper.
In our times, the world again seems full of trouble,
danger, and death, but that is what this world has been since sin entered it. We, however, are citizens of a far greater,
holy, peaceful, and permanent kingdom. Jesus
became our everlasting King by the merit of His absolute victory over sin,
death, and the devil. With His victory
on the cross, Jesus won our eternal peace with God, and with His victory over
your heart, He brought that peace to you.
So, give up your fears and rejoice, dear Christian friends! Through your faith in Christ and through the
baptism that made you His, you are connected for eternity to the King of Peace,
your Savior, Jesus Christ; Rejoice!
Your humble King brings peace.
Amen.
The peace
of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ
Jesus unto everlasting life. Amen.
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