Palm Sunday 2013

Luke 19:28-40 "WHAT A WEEK FOR OUR SAVIOR" I. A week where He hid His power. II. A week where war brought peace. In the name of Jesus, our Savior, dear fellow redeemed Children of God; As we expected, we have not heard much from our son who is in Basic Training in San Antonio. I’ve read online that the temperatures have been much warmer than here with highs in the 80’s and 90’s. In a letter he wrote that this last week was BEAST week. From what I understand that’s when the trainees spend the week “camped out” and they spend the week, as if they were deployed, practicing skills they’ve learned. From what I understand it is a very intense week. Palm Sunday began the most intense week for Jesus. On Palm Sunday, Jesus entered Jerusalem to battle with our enemies- sin and death and Satan, the Beast. What A Week For Our Savior! I. A week where He hid His power. II. A week where war brought peace. Lately it seems that the leader of North Korea has been rattling his sabre trying to get some attention. Often when this world’s leaders make threats, they follow them up with a show of force-maybe a military parade with goose stepping soldiers or a parades of huge trucks carrying missiles. When Jesus went into Jerusalem to His Holy Week Battle against Satan, he went with his power hidden. No one saw an army of his angels marching alongside him coming up the hillside toward Jerusalem. There were no antiSatan missiles flanking him on the right and left. For the most part his power was hidden. It was hidden, but it was still there. Jesus had just told a parable about faithfulness involving a king going away to be appointed king in a distant country and leaving his servants in charge. Jess knew what was going to be involved with his “going away”. He knew suffering and death were waiting for him in Jerusalem. But yet he did not have to be dragged into Jerusalem. Instead he went willingly in a joyful parade. Just like Zephaniah prophesied, “Rejoice O Daughter of Zion, See your King comes to you gentle and riding on a donkey.” “After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' tell him, 'The Lord needs it.' " Have you ever given someone directions and then after they drive off you think to yourself, “No I think it was a right turn at the light not a left. Oh well.” Notice that this is not what happens here with Jesus’ directions. His directions are right on. “Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, "Why are you untying the colt?" They replied, "The Lord needs it." The donkey did not have an onboard GPS that Jesus was using. Jesus just knew where they were. Just like Jesus just knows about the things sitting on your heart this morning. Yet Jesus’ awesome power was hidden. He could have stopped his disciples outside of Jerusalem, waved his hand over a lizard there by the road and turned it into a donkey. Instead he humbly arranged for his disciples to fetch a donkey that was already a donkey. Jesus hides His great power. Doesn’t the Savior do the same thing today? He hides the power of his providing for us in the work that we do and by causing “his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” He hides his power so well that sometimes the unbelievers and the unbeliever inside of me and inside of you thinks that we’re the ones providing for ourselves. He hides the power of His forgiveness in the simple words of the Bible, in water in baptism and in bread and wine of Holy Communion. May we always see in our Savior the source of power and blessing in our lives. He is the one we can run to in this world where there are many uncertainties, unknowns, and “I don’t knows”. We find ourselves saying that we don’t know how long our jobs will last. I don’t know where to find another job. I don’t know when and if terrorism is going to rear its ugly head again in our world. Nobody knows for sure if they are even going to be here five years from now, five years from now or even five days from now. In this world of uncertainty, isn’t it comforting to know that hidden in your king riding into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday is a powerful mind that knows everything. Wars fought may at times bring a temporary peace but usually that peace doesn’t last for too long. Soon after WWI, “the war to end all wars” came WWII. WWII with its decisive victories was followed rather quickly by wars in Korea and Vietnam. More recently wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have dragged on. The battle Jesus fought in Jerusalem for us in the week after Palm Sunday brought true peace for you and me for eternity. “They brought it (the donkey) to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it.” There were no limousine caravans bringing Jesus into the city on that first Palm Sunday. Though legions of angels were at his beckon call carrying Jesus rides into the city of Jerusalem to carry out the rescue mission for all of mankind on a donkey. “As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!" Normally when people are involved in a war, they are fighting for their own survival. But Jesus came in the name of the Lord. We were the ones who needed saving. The other Gospels tell us that the people shouted Hosanna. Hosanna is a Hebrew prayer which asks the Lord to “save us.” It was also used as a way of praising God for being the Savior of his people-for bringing peace with God.. The people who carpeted the road with palm branches and coats were honoring Jesus as the promised Savior. They welcomed Jesus the Great King who would fight the war and bring peace through the coming battle. The crowds talked about that peace when they shouted, “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" That peace was needed because our sins had put us at war with God. You see God doesn’t say, “Do the best you can. Try to keep a few of my commandments.” No, God says, “Be holy as I the Lord your God am holy.” God demands that we keep his commandments perfectly. Our sinful pride is cut away as we look at the countless times we have broken God’s commands. All of us must look at what God demands and confess with St. Paul, “I am the worst of sinners.” But Jesus came to fight for us. He did not “consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking upon himself the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death- even death on a cross.” The Pharisees were sure Jesus was taking too much glory for himself. Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!" "I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out." What Jesus was about to do in Jerusalem was so great that if the people had kept quiet on that first Palm Sunday the stones would have cried out! The one who could bring forth praise from stones is the one who loves you. The peace He brings calms our souls when our consciences bother us. He brings peace and calm to us in every trouble. BEAST Week is over for my son. Jesus has fought and won our Beast week for us. Let’s comes again to hear about the victories our king has won for us. Let’s rejoice in the peace he won for us. Amen.