Prince of Peace and Christ Our Savior Lutheran Churches

March 20. 2005

Vicar Matt Luetke

Palm Sunday

Matthew 21:1-11

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of

Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, "Go to the village

ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her

colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says

anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send

them right away."

4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

5 "Say to the Daughter of Zion,

'See, your king comes to you,

gentle and riding on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a donkey.'" a

6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They

brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and

Jesus sat on them. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the

road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the

road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed

shouted,

"Hosanna b to the Son of David!"

"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" c

"Hosanna d in the highest!"

10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked,

"Who is this?"

11 The crowds answered, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee."

Jesus Is Having a Parade. Let's Go See Him!

I. He is our God

II. He comes humbly

III. We worship him

I've always loved parades. I've been to a few in the past, but never

to one quite like those you see on the History Channel. They show

footage of these huge parades during WWII. Vast armies of soldiers

march before and after the vehicle of honor carrying some dignitary,

or military general, or even the president of the United States. The

people cheer, paper ribbons flow downward from the windows above.

What a display of power! How awesome it would have been to be there!

No doubt all the Newspapers and T.V shows of the time announced the

parade far in advance so that everyone could attend.

Compare that to Jesus' parade on Palm Sunday. It began without much

preparation. There was no time for his disciples to advertise it on

the community calendar. This parade seemingly sprung up out of

nowhere.

The people were already busy with other things that day. In just

six days the Passover, which was the biggest Jewish festival of the

year, would be celebrated. There were many people in Jerusalem

already for that reason no doubt busy making preparations for the

Passover.

There were some people however, who were too exited to think about the

Passover. Perhaps as far back as three months ago, they saw an average

funeral turn unbelievable. A man arrived at the tomb of the recently

dead several days late. He was a close friend of the family as was

evident from the conversation he had with the dead man's sister. Then

this man told some people to roll back the stone that was in front of

the tomb. He yelled inside the tomb, "Lazarus! Come out!" The people

gathered there might have thought he was crazy but then the dead man

came out!

What a sight! They couldn't help but tell everyone they met what they

saw. And as word spread that Jesus, this man who raised Lazarus, was

back in town, they came to see him. John tells us that the people at

this parade were the very ones who had seen and heard this miracle.

There were others, however, who were caught off guard by this parade.

They heard the shouts and hosannas and stopped what they were doing to

see what was going on. But then they saw it: just a simple man riding

into town on a donkey. No honor guard, no acrobats or clowns, just a

man on a donkey. Oddly enough, his followers were showing him great

honor. They placed their cloaks on the street before him and palm

branches as well. Above the din they could hear the people with palm

branches were calling him the Son of David. Was this man a king? No,

he couldn't be. Where was his army? Where was his warhorse and

chariot? Many who heard the parade were no doubt too busy for such

nonsense and went back to what they were doing, allowing the sounds of

the parade to fade in the background.

They didn't know who this man was. Seeing him ride into town on a

donkey didn't help them much either. Let us not be confused. That

man parading about on a colt, the foal of a donkey is our God! He is

worthy of our honor and praise!

Skip back to the morning of this day and you will see who Jesus is.

Jesus had told two of his disciples to go and fetch the donkey and her

colt in the town ahead. He told them that if the owner should

question their untying of the animals that they should say to the

owner that the Lord needed them and the owners would let them go.

This was an odd request. I wouldn't have wanted to be in the

disciple's shoes at this moment. What if the owner didn't let them

take the animals? How awkward that would have been!

And yet it happened just as Jesus said. He knew it would because he is God.

Skip back a several weeks or more and you will see more proof of who

Jesus is. He raised a man four days dead simply by telling him to

come out of his tomb. There is power in Jesus' words, power only God

can have.

Now look at the parade and you will see more evidence of his divinity.

Take a look at the animal he is riding. Its just a colt, I know, but

Mark tells us in his gospel that it had never been ridden before.

This unbroken colt, never before ridden, calmly proceeded to Jerusalem

with Jesus on it's back. This in the face of crowds singing and

waving branches! Under normal circumstances, with any other rider,

this colt would have bolted, bucked, or balked. If you think

otherwise, then you've probably never tried to ride an unbroken colt.

This animal "knows" it is carrying its Creator so it is calm.

This man riding into Jerusalem that day is our God. As God he is

worthy of all our trust and honor. He can do everything from taming an

unbroken colt to saving a world of sinners from death. Because he is

able to do all this he is worthy of our complete and total trust at

all times. And because he has done all that is necessary for our

salvation, we ought to honor him at all times. We know that as Jesus

rode into Jerusalem that day, he had that on his mind. He came to

conquer sin on the cross. This was his march to victory—his parade

into battle!

Yet he comes without an army, without an entourage or any sign of

power at all. There was nothing about him that should wow us or

entertain us, unless you think it is funny that he should ride in on a

baby donkey. There was nothing out of the ordinary about him at all

that should mark him as the Savior of the world.

Matthew says that when Jesus rode into Jerusalem all the people were

stirred. Something exciting was happening—a parade! But when they

saw him on his little colt, how stirred were they then? Did they go

back to preparing for the Passover and pay him no mind?

As we see Jesus coming in lackluster glory, will we trust and honor

him as he deserves or will we pay him no mind? He comes as our

protector, provider, and Savior. Will we trust him to do these

things?

America is big on protection. We have an unbelievable national

security budget. We have early warning systems galore for all the

natural disasters that come our way. We have fire alarms, carbon

monoxide alarms, burglary alarms—you name it. And yet, these devises

only warn us when bad things happen. They don't actually stop the

disaster from occurring. Our nation's early warning systems tell us

when a flood is coming but they can't stop that flood from tearing

down our houses. We really aren't as safe as we would like to think.

It can happen that as we consider how vulnerable we really are, we

begin to fear. We begin to wonder what more we can do to protect

ourselves. We forget that the best way to protect ourselves it to

leave all things in God's hand. Instead of doing this, we let fear

take over. We see the donkey he is riding on and second-guess his

power to protect us.

America is big on money. I'm not talking about America's need for the

newest toys. I'm talking about America's daily requirement of money.

What is it now, $2.00 a gallon for gas? What about groceries, rent,

auto and health insurance—don't get me started on that. The truth is,

Americans need money simply to get by. As you see Jesus riding into

town on a borrowed donkey, without any money to his name, do you see

him as the provider of all things? Can a man who has to borrow a

donkey really provide all that we need? It's easy to forget that God

is our daily provider. All you have to do is look back to the last

time your bill payments came up short. Or look to the debt you owe,

or the loan you need, and you might begin to wonder, "God, why aren't

you providing for me?"

Jesus had enemies on every street corner, from Pharisees, to

Sadducees, from members of the Sanhedrin to chief priests. They

eventually captured him and hung him on a cross to die. He couldn't

even save himself! Where was his warhorse when the temple soldiers

arrested him in Gethsemane? Where was his chariot? Where was his

army of angels and cherubs? Now we know that Jesus is God, but he

sure doesn't portray his power in a way that we can understand. And

when we can't see his power, there is a part of us that begins to

wonder if his power really exists. After doubt comes fear, after fear

comes the search for better alternatives, and then comes the breaking

of the first commandment as we rely on someone or thing more than on

God.

If we are nto sure of God's love, we will doubt his willingness to

save. We will say, "God, are you really able to take that sin away?

God, are you really willing to take that sin away? It doesn't make

sense that you would forgive me each and every time I fall into the

exact same sin. Surely your grace will end soon. Surely there is

something I can do to make you happy, to make you extend your grace

for me a little longer!"

This fear that God does not protect, that he doesn't provide all we

need or save us from every sin—this lack of trust is sin in God's

eyes. No one will save us from our sins if we don't trust in the only

one who can do this. If we don't trust and honor God, then we

shouldn't spend our eternity with him either.

Friends, Jesus does not display his power in a way that we can

understand, but that doesn't mean he has no power. Think about it: he

rode into town on a donkey. I used to think that this was a sign of

his weakness. Actually it was far from it. I read the other day that

a donkey was the animal of choice for the kings and judges of ancient

Israel. Jair, one of the Israelite judges had thirty donkeys for his

thirty sons to ride upon. Abdon, another judge had seventy for his

seventy sons and grandsons. David himself rode on a mule as did his

son Solomon. The donkey was traditionally the mount of choice for

kings. But a king never rode his donkey into battle. He rode it only

in times of peace.

President today are the same way. Only when our president is

absolutely positive that he is safe will he ride his convertible in

parades. In every other case he takes his fully armored limousine.

If I, like Jesus, had enemies all around who wanted me dead, I

wouldn't ride into the hornet's nest on a donkey. I'd come with

legions of soldiers all around me! But Jesus came on a colt, the foal

of a donkey—proof that he was in complete control of the situation.

No one was going to hurt Jesus on his path to glory without his

permission. When his time was right and only then would he give his

own life up; no one would take it from him.

As you see Jesus parading into battle on a donkey, as you see him

gaining victory by having himself executed, don't be fooled. He is

our king and our God!

Those at the parade saw him as their God Listen to their song.

"Hosanna to the Son of David." They are calling him the Messiah.

They see him as more than just a prophet, this is their promised king

who has come to deliver them from evil.

"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" Indeed, Jesus did

come in the name of the Lord, for he is the Lord. As we study God's

name we see that it tells us two things about him. His name tells us

who he is and what he does.

Who is Jesus? He is God. He has divine power. He can do all things.

What does Jesus do? He comes to us with divine promises. He promises

to protect us and we know that he will keep that promise. We know he

will keep his promise to provide all that we need. And we know that

his promise to save us was not a vein promise, but one he kept for us

on the cross. Have you ever lost trust in God as your protector?

Jesus died for that sin. Have you ever feared that maybe he isn't the

provider he says he is? Jesus died for that sin. Have you ever

wondered if he could really save you? Jesus died for that sin too!

And by doing so has saved you!

We can't see his power as he rides gently into town on that donkey,

but that does not mean he doesn't have power. He is our God! We

can't see his power as he hangs on the cross either, but we will see

it, in a few more days, when he breaks forth from the power of sin and

rises from the grave! He is our Savior who conquered sin!

Therefore we worship him with our lives by trusting him at all times.

That request he made of his two disciples: it was an odd one. It

required trust. As God makes requests of us that we cannot

understand, we don't want to give up on him; we want to trust him.

But when troubles enter our lives, when we get sick or lonely, or when

others hurt us, our natural reaction is to become angry at God or to

give up on him. God asks that even when we are sad we praise him.

This is an odd request. Yet we have seen his power so we trust him

and obey. And then he shows us what we couldn't understand at first:

in all things God works for the good of those who love him. While we

suffer, God is at work making sure that this pain will work out for

our good. When we see this, we of course want to trust him at all

times. There is no reason for us not to.

As the people acknowledged Jesus as their king by putting their cloaks

before him on the road, we also want to acknowledge him as our king.

We will make him the ruler in our lives. We will entrust all things

into his care.

How can we not at this point burst out in songs of praise for all the

he does for us.

"Hosanna to the Son of David!"

"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"

"Hosanna in the highest!"

He is the Messiah who comes with victory over sin. Praise him!

He comes humbly yet with power and majesty. Praise him!

As the angels and saints in heaven praise him, so we praise him!

Jesus is having a Parade. Let's go see him! And sing his praise!

Amen.