Sermon for Palm Sunday, April 2, 2023
Peace to God’s children, and love with faith from God the 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)
The humble King brings
a great peace.
Dear fellow redeemed,
There are
people around today who reject faith in Jesus because of the humility of His
life and death. Jesus doesn’t measure up
to their idea of what a King, a Savior, or especially, what God should be. In their minds, God would reveal Himself in
power. You are likely to hear questions
from them like, “Why doesn’t God intervene and stop all this cruelty, murder,
starvation, and war?” Why does God
tolerate people hating their neighbor? If
God is so great and powerful, why does He allow so much tragedy, cancer,
delusion, or whatever other great ills trouble the thoughts?
In reality, that hasn’t changed since Jesus
walked the earth. Many people of His day
rejected Jesus because He didn’t fit their idea of what Israel’s king should
be. The leaders of Israel rejected
Jesus, at least partially, because they feared His teachings would upset the
Roman government and they would be in danger of losing their own positions of
power. Furthermore, many rejected Jesus
because they considered His background too humble for king material. Others rejected Jesus because they found His
teachings too hard to swallow. That too
continues today. If we are truly honest
with ourselves, and with our God, there is a part of each of us that similarly
puts the Lord on trial whenever we begin to question His love and care.
All of that being said, many find it curious
that God had His Son enter the world in such humble form and then go into the
decisive battle for our salvation in equally humble mode. It is easy to wonder why God didn’t send His
Son in a demonstration of power and glory to force the world back to the
Lord. Even among us, some are asking why
doesn’t God bring judgment upon the wicked?
Now!
It was the same way back when this prophecy was
fulfilled as Jesus entered Jerusalem. As
Jesus prepared for the battle of His life that first holy week, even His
disciples were expecting Jesus to reestablish Israel as a powerful kingdom with
Jesus as its head and the disciples His leading officials. Likewise, many today think that Christians
ought to do more to take control of the world politically in order to make the
world a better place.
So, why does God send Jesus in humble form and
send Him into battle on a lowly animal the world would mock? The answer comes when we understand that the
battle was never one of power.
Certainly, the God who created the world and everything in it simply by
speaking the word, could just as easily declare its end, and it would all fall
apart. In fact, when Jesus showed St.
John a vision of Judgment Day, John described it in this way: “There was a
great earthquake. The sun became as
black as sackcloth made of hair. The
entire moon became like blood. The stars
of the sky fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its unripe figs when it is
shaken by a strong wind. The sky was
removed like a scroll being rolled up.
Every mountain and island was moved from its place.” (Revelation
6:12-14) Thus, as easily as God created
this world, He can and will judge it at the appropriate time.
However, the real problem between God and
mankind has never been a lack of God’s power.
The problem has always been a lack of faith on the part of sinful
man. Jesus had to be humble in all
aspects because we are so often arrogant and proud. Adam and Eve fell when they trusted the
devil’s lies instead of God’s sure promise.
Such has been the case for everyone ever since. As hard as it is to admit, we too often fall
short of perfect faith. Whether it be by
breaking a commandment, questioning God’s plan for your life in the moment, or
deciding in one’s heart that we know better than God how things should be,
everyone falls short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)
As Jesus prepared to suffer and die for the
sins of all people, He made sure to fulfil every prophecy God had provided
concerning the Christ. Through
Zechariah, the Lord foretold how He would enter the battle for our lives, our
souls, and our trust. The prophet wrote,
“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.”
We heard in our Gospel selection how Jesus fulfilled Zechariah’s
prophecy so that no one in Jerusalem should doubt who Jesus was or why He was
entering that city. From these words of
the prophet, it is clear that Jesus didn’t plan to cause a rebellion or any
other kind of earthly confrontation.
Instead, The humble King brings a great
peace.
Jesus entered our world for two purposes: to
live perfect righteousness for the benefit of sinful people such as you and me,
and secondly to take the punishment of death and separation from God that our
sins had earned. (Romans 6:23) “God
did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world
through him.” (John 3:17) The first part of our text prophesies the humble
form Jesus would take as He lived for us.
Jesus never needed nor desired the kind of earthly wealth and honor so
many of us desire. Jesus didn’t strive
for power and majesty on earth.
Meanwhile, He used the power at His disposal to help and befriend those
around Him. Many took advantage of
Jesus’ kindness, but all the while, Jesus showed His love for the fallen
sinners He had come to redeem.
Through hunger or cold, storm or riot, in the
face of disease, death or violent opposition, Jesus never wavered in His trust
in the God of heaven, His own beloved Father.
Because He was living for you and me, Jesus lived in a humility and impoverished
lifestyle we would never covet, yet all the while, He was at perfect peace with
His Father’s plan for His life, which was that Jesus would be the Lamb of God
sacrificed for the sins of the world.
Therefore, the Son of God kept Himself free from any spot or blemish of
sin, arrogance, selfishness, or unfaithfulness.
Then, having lived His earthly life in perfect harmony with God’s will
for us, Jesus was willing to lay down His life to establish peace between God
and the human race.
What brings turmoil and war among the people of
this world is the sin that infects us all.
The nature we inherit from our parents is subject to covetousness,
jealousy, hatred, unrighteous anger, and fear.
We innately want to control not only our future but that of those around
us. Yet, no one among us has the wisdom
to do that in a way that is good for all.
Only God can, and only God does.
Therefore, the prophet foretold what the Christ would do for all. He wrote in God’s name: “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.”
When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on that lowly
donkey, His victory over sin, death, the devil, and the grave was sure and
certain because that was God’s plan and promise. Then, for His humble service and sacrifice,
Jesus is given authority to rule over all creation bringing peace to all who
believe in Him.
The Jews thought that Jesus was bringing
rebellion against Rome. From texts like
this, Jesus’ supporters imagined that He would lead them to military victory
over their enemies and set up an earthly kingdom for their benefit. What remains difficult for many to accept even
in our times is that Jesus had no intention of establishing an earthly
kingdom. Indeed, that was one of the
temptations the devil tried to use against Jesus. However, in love for us, God’s goal, therefore
Jesus’ goal, was to establish peace between God and man so that He might take
us out of this cruel, broken, passing-away world into the everlasting peace of
heaven.
Jesus came so that His Father in heaven could
claim us as dear children so that He, and we, would enjoy a peaceful, loving
relationship like that our first parents had with the Lord in the Garden of
Eden before sin entered our world. In
the new heaven and new earth, there will be no need for the tools of war,
because war will have ceased. There will
be no strife or jealousy among strangers or friends because sin will be removed
from the picture. In His vision of life
after Jesus’ victory, John reported, “And from the throne I heard a loud
voice that said, ‘Look! God’s dwelling
is with people. He will dwell with them,
and they will be his people. God himself
will be with them, and he will be their God.
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or sorrow or
crying or pain, because the former things have passed away.’” (Revelation
21:3-4)
Dear friends, one of the devil’s most
persistent lies is that God isn’t fair or trustworthy. However, in Jesus, we see faithfulness
complete and true justice carried out in His death for us. Never again do we need to worry about what we
have here on earth, for because of Jesus, we have peace with God in heaven, and
He is preparing a place for us there.
Whenever it may be His desire to bring us home, we can know that it will
be a far more glorious place than anything we have experienced on earth. Furthermore, we will never again have to worry
or fear, because The humble King brings a great peace.
With His holy sacrifice of the only perfectly
righteous life ever lived, with His suffering, death, and resurrection from the
grave, Jesus ensured peace with God for you and a sure and certain hope that
those who believe in Him will live. “The
promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far away, as many
as the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:39)
As the apostles, Paul and Silas, assured a terrified, Roman jailer, “Believe
in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household.” (Acts
16:31) You will enjoy eternity, because Your
humble King brings a great peace. Amen.
The Lord of peace himself give you peace at all
times and in every way. The grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
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