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Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the text for this morning comes from that gospel reading. You may be seated.
One crowd started here. One crowd started there. The one here was in Jerusalem, and they wanted to see this guy named Lazarus whom this other guy named Jesus rose from the dead. And that was in a nearby town of Bethany. So this crowd was getting together and they were heading down from Jerusalem into the valley and back up over to Bethany. The other crowd was with Jesus, who were in Bethany. This crowd was with him and they were with him having already seen Lazarus. They were going to accompany Jesus as he made his way down to the valley and back up into Jerusalem.
And of all things, on a donkey. For three years, and obviously prior to that three years, Jesus never rode an animal. Ever. He walked everywhere. He walked the tens of miles all around Galilee. All down to Judea. All those places that he went, he walked there. And now in this little two and a half, three mile jaunt, He rides a donkey?
He rides a donkey because a donkey is always a symbol not of war, but of peace. Jesus comes as the peace king, not peace, the kind of peace that passes all understanding kind of peace. The kind of peace that he lets go of there so that you can close your eyes in peace at night. The kind of peace he completely is without as he hangs upon the accursed tree so that you will never have God’s backside staring at you. You will only have him like the prodigal son saw from the father, open arms, willing and desirous to receive you as son and as daughter.
So these two crowds converge onto Jesus and there is now a whopping big crowd. This crowd that is with Jesus are gathered around this donkey. And the donkey isn’t galloping. The donkey is lumbering along, making his way up to Jerusalem. And the people are singing loudly. They’re chanting loudly.
Now the people didn’t think, wow, we need to come up with some snappy rhythm, some cool verses, some contemporary tune that we can get these people fired up about. They go back to what they learned in the synagogue. They go back to what was taught them as a youth. Psalm 118. Psalm 118 verses 25 and 26. They sing those words. And in singing those words, they make a very big proclamation because it’s a loud, boisterous group. Completely immersing him with palm fronds and throwing them down on the ground and shouting aloud and singing for this peace king who comes to them.
When you were a little boy or a little girl… and you sang, Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is he, blessed is he, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. You had no idea of what you were singing. And yet that was one of the first pieces of scripture you learned as a baby on your mama or daddy’s lap. And if you didn’t grow up with that as a part of your vocabulary or song selection, since you have been a member, you have heard it and sang it. And it is a part of you now.
Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is he, blessed is he, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. And Hosanna really ought to be said with our heads bowed and our arms outreached asking God because it literally means grant me salvation now. Save me now. In the midst of my fears or in the midst of my anger. In the midst of my lack of courage or in the midst of my opening my big mouth getting my foot stuck in it moment. Save me, Lord, from me.
Jesus listened to these people shouted aloud. And because he is also God in the flesh, he could look at each of their faces and say, he probably won’t believe in me, I know that. But I’m going to stay the course for him nevertheless and pay for his sins. He knew that many of these people who were shouting, Hosanna, Hosanna, and was echoing off the walls, like my voice is echoing off of these walls, many of those same people would gather around a judge’s seat and shout, having discarded Hosanna and picked up crucify, and now they want a change in the regime. And Jesus isn’t bringing it according to their definition.
This peace king stays the course, and all he desires is for you to trust him. That’s it. Trust me. I have your best interests at heart. Trust me, I’ve paid the penalty for all of that guilt that Satan loves to heap upon you. Trust me, the shame that you may have in your mind’s eye has been expunged and died for. Let it go! Love me, receive me, and joyfully follow me.
Did you hear what the text said? Fear not, daughter of Zion. Why would that need to be said? Because you and I, no matter how much on the outside we look, we’re men and women filled with fears. Oh, there are fears about earthly things that are a part of our lives. But the fear that catches in our throat is the fear that Satan loves to continue to feed fuel. And that’s the fear of my standing in God’s sight. Because of me and all of my peccadillos and all of my idiosyncrasies and all of my issues. Does he love me? Has he paid for all of these? Surely, I must show him that I’m worthy of such love, of such pain, of such suffering. I must show him.
Don’t do it. You’ll only be a dog chasing its tail. It was on that cross that perfect love was shown. And perfect love drives out fear, Scripture says. Perfect love drives out fear. That’s why he says, Fear not, O daughter of Zion, my dear bride, I have your honor. See, do you not see the honor I won for you, that you may be holy and righteous? That you may be sinless, spotless, and dressed and adorned in white linen.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, for he comes for you. He comes for you. He doesn’t come for you looking at your best. He doesn’t come for you when the tie is tied ever so properly and you’ve got everything cleaned up and taken care of. He comes for you when you don’t want him to come and see you as you really are. That’s when he comes to take you when you don’t even love yourself because of what you see and what you experience within yourself. That’s when he comes for you at your worst, not at your best, so that he can show you, fear not, I’ve come for you.
Sing the hymn, Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna to the Son of David. Sing the hymn, Blessed is He, Blessed is He, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, because I come for you.
This chanting and this singing went on all the way into the city. I would love to have seen where this parade had ended. We’re not told in the text where this parade ended. I have a hunch where it did end, in the temple. That’s where the king sits, at the altar. Where the sacrifice of the Passover lamb is poured out. That’s where the king sits. That’s why that brass cross with that brass body of Christ on it is where the king sits. Because he dies for the children to make them heirs. That’s where the parade ends. It ends with his death. Not with his coronation. His death. His death.
The coronation comes, and we’re going to celebrate that next Sunday. Eight days from now, we begin the final trek to the cross, the altar of sacrifice, the place of our redemption. And we go there singing, Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna.
Now there’s an interesting part of this text. It said the disciples or the apostles did not realize these things until after he was glorified, then they realized all of the things that had been written about him and that were done to him. So it is with you. All those parts of the liturgy that you sing and you know so well, God has planted them deep within your bosom so that the Holy Spirit has those tools to work on your heart so that you learn about them as you grow in the faith.
Because at every turn does God’s word have something to offer you in your life at that moment. When you’re at your best, God still has a word for you in that word planted deep that the Spirit will use. But more importantly, when you’re at your worst, does he have that word of God that he speaks to you through that Spirit working on you that same word. And like the disciples, we look back and go, oh yeah, of course, I see this now. As he lifts us up from our lowness and exalts us undeservingly.
When the church was persecuted, the church spread. Let me say that again. When the church was persecuted, the church spread. Spread into Turkey from Palestine. And into the Middle East and the Far East from Palestine. And into North Africa from Palestine. As the church was persecuted, the church sent off shoots. From the vine, Christ. And these shoots continued to spread this word, and they had no idea of the great impact that that word would do.
Just as the apostles did not realize this word of God from Psalm 118 applied to Jesus. Just like you, maybe, who have grown up shouting out Hosanna, did not realize that it literally means, save me now, grant salvation now. Old dogs can be taught new tricks, can’t they?
I’ll tell you an interesting story that happened. Last week we had one of our members go to glory. And at her funeral, at her funeral service, a friend of the family came. And after the funeral service, this friend of the family and his girlfriend came up to one of the elders and said, I want to be baptized. I want my girlfriend to be baptized. I want to join this church at a funeral. One never knows when the Word of God does its work.
Now, being, unfortunately, a little bit more of a pragmatist than maybe I ought to be, I remember the parable of the seed and the sower. I have no idea of what will happen, but I’m very thankful for hearing that and that there was this interchange between one of our members who did not come to the funeral thinking that he would be talking to this prospective believer. And same thing with this prospective believer who came to the funeral because he knew or she knew one of the members of the family. And God did his work.
The church always wins and goes on. We will never die. We will always win and go on. This reflection is something that we have to keep hearing, though, again and again and again. So you and I are caught up in this worship cycle of our church, and we’re very thankful because it’s not just for Americans. It’s for the North Africans. It’s for the Christians in Asia and Southeast Asia and Far East. They’re also on the same cycle as we, hearing the same lessons as we, because it’s not an American liturgy. It is a church liturgy.
So every time you sing Hosanna, Hosanna to the Son of David, blessed is he, blessed is he, blessed is he, you’re not alone. Because people are saying it in another language, somewhere else in the world. The church goes on. And his word does its work.
Be confident, brothers and sisters. Not fearful. Be joyful. Not downtrodden. Your Lord comes for you. Comes to die for you, but comes to you and feeds you.
In the name of Jesus, amen. The peace of God which passes all understanding. Keep your hearts and minds on Christ Jesus to life everlasting, amen.