Bible Passage: Luke 19:28-40
Pastor: Joel Jenswold
Sermon Date: April 10, 2022, Palm Sunday

Bulletin April 10, 2022

Holy Week begins today.  And one of the things we will notice as we read through the Gospel accounts of this week is the recurring theme of “king” and “kingdom.”  In fact, you might say Holy Week paints a portrait of Jesus as King.  For example, Jesus is painted as the JUDGING King in Matthew 25.  There Jesus speaks about the judgment he will render to those who trust in him on Judgment Day:  Then the King will say to those on his right, Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. (Matthew 25:34).

 During Holy Week, we will see Jesus as the mocked and rejected King.  The soldiers abuse and mock Jesus as they say, Hail, King of the Jews! (Matthew 27:29)  We will see Jesus as the GRACIOUS King as the thief crucified next to him says, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.  And the King replies, Amen I tell you:  Today you will be with me in paradise. (Luke 23:42-43)  We will even see Jesus as the DYING King, as he bows his head under a sign that reads:  Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.

But before we get to any of that, the King…the judging, rejected, gracious, dying King…must arrive.  And that is what today is all about.  Today, on Palm Sunday, we see the first brush-strokes of the portrait.  Today we see The Coming King.

This is what the crowds were shouting on that day.  As they see Jesus sitting on that little donkey, they shout,  Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!  By saying this, the people were lifting the words right from Psalm 118.  Psalm 118 was a psalm that expressed Jewish Messianic hopes.  Their use of these words shows that in some way they were making a connection between Jesus and the Messiah-King.

And well they should!  Jesus wanted people to see in his coming that he most definitely was the Messiah-King.  We can see this in the way he procured the little donkey.  Wasn’t that strange how Jesus sent two disciples ahead, and he told them exactly what was going to happen, right down to the conversation they were going to have with the owners of the little donkey?  Jesus had been to Jerusalem many times before this and he had never done anything like this!  Why these careful instructions?  Why did it have to be, and look, exactly like this?

Because Jesus didn’t want there to be any room for doubt that he truly was the Messiah-King!  You see, there was this little prophecy written in Zechariah about the Messiah, and it said, 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. (Zechariah 9:9)  It was going to be Messiah’s calling card that he would come to Jerusalem riding on a juvenile donkey.  And so Jesus did!

It seems, though, for many that day, the full meaning of Jesus’ coming wasn’t realized.  We are told the whole crowd of disciples began to praise God joyfully, with a loud voice, for all the miracles they had seen. (v. 37)   That’s not a bad reason to praise Jesus, don’t get me wrong!  This was Jesus, the Miracle-Worker!  At this point there were three-years’ worth of healed eyes and ears and arms and legs throughout Israel because of Jesus.  Who wouldn’t be happy to see him coming to town?  But seeing Jesus as only “Miracle-Worker Jesus” is like having a Lamborghini and only driving in first gear.  Sure it’s fun.  But there’s so much more!

The very words they borrowed from Psalm 118 should have clued them in.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.  Notice, Jesus does not announce as he comes:  “I come today in the name of all the sick and diseased who need a miracle!”  He does not announce as he comes: “I come today in the name of all freedom loving Jews who want to see the Romans driven out!”  No, he comes in the name of the Lord.  He is on an errand from the Lord.  He is on special assignment from the Lord.

He is coming for the final act in God’s saving drama. The entire drama could be called “God Comes to Save.”  Act I:  The Garden of Eden.  Two brand new, shame-filled sinners hide in the bushes, afraid to look at God and afraid to have God look at them.  So what does God do?  He comes to them.  He comes to them and he promises that One will come to fix what they just broke.  Fast forward about 4000 years.  Act II.  God the Holy Spirit comes to the Virgin Mary.  She carries in her womb an embryo.  The Son of God.  Act III – nine months later.  Her baby comes into this world.  He is given the name “Jesus,” because he will save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21).  Act IV, the final act, Jesus comes to Jerusalem, in the name of the Lord, to save his people from their sins by his death and rising.

This is a big deal!  In our text we hear that some of the Pharisees are irked at all this commotion.  Teacher, rebuke your disciples, they say.  “Scold these people!  Tell them to pipe down!”  But Jesus answers, I tell you, if these people would be silent, the stones would cry out. (v. 40)  When you see the King of the universe humble himself and borrow a little donkey to ride into town all so that he can give his life as the ransom for all, it’s a big deal!  Someone better be singing and shouting about it.  If the people won’t, the stones will.

Kids, this is a big deal.  I remember when I was a child and Holy Week began, I would always think, “This is the week we go to church A LOT!”  Yea, we do.  Today, Thursday, Friday.  This week has a “feel” all its own.  It’s special.  This all is a big deal.  There’s nothing bigger; there’s nothing better than what Jesus was willing to do for you.  It’s a special time for us all, young and old, to think about, to ponder deeply, the enormity of Jesus’ love.  A time to be overwhelmed again by it all, as we say with the apostle Paul:  [He] loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20) 

And if that doesn’t move us to sing and shout to our coming King, the stones will be happy to do it.  But they won’t need to…I think we will!

Amen.

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