Sermon -- 6th Sunday in Lent: Palm Sunday (April 2, 2023)

MATTHEW 21:1-11

BEHOLD!  YOUR KING IS COMING TO YOU.

In the name + of Jesus.

      More than four centuries before Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the prophet Zechariah foretold it.  “Behold, your king is coming to you” (Zechariah 9:9)!  Now, this could be good news or bad news.  A town might be excited when the king comes to visit, or a town might be terrified when a king comes to visit.  It depends upon both the nature of the visit and the nature of the king. 

     At the time Jesus was born, Jerusalem had a great king.  At least, that was in his title: Herod the Great.  If you consider what he accomplished during his reign, that title was deserved.  Herod’s greatest accomplishments were his many construction projects.  The crown jewel of his construction work was the repair and enhancement of the temple.  The temple was an engineering marvel.  The apostles certainly were impressed with it.  They said to Jesus, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings” (Mark 13:1)!  As they sat on the Mount of Olives and looked across the valley to the temple mount, they gazed at the gorgeous building, gleaming in the sun light. 

     But Herod the Great was a wicked man.  He gained his position through political intrigue, bribery, smooth talk, and killing off many competitors.  Once he was granted the title of King by the Roman government, Herod ferociously maintained his authority.  If Herod feared that anyone was disloyal to him or posed a threat to his throne, he was quick to imprison or execute that person.  Among his victims were advisors, confidants, several of his sons, and even his favorite wife.  Now, if you got word that Herod the Great was coming to your town, would you be excited or terrified?  Again, it depends upon the nature of the visit and the nature of the king.  But the nature of Herod the Great would fill anyone with terror.

     Behold!  Your king is coming to you.  Jesus Christ rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.  And Zechariah removed any suspense regarding the nature of the visit and the nature of the king.  Four centuries in advance, he wrote, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!  Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!  Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9). 

     Behold!  Your king comes to you.  His royalty is confessed by the people who laid down their coats and palms on the path as he entered Jerusalem.  In the ancient world, the king would not touch the ground.  Touching the dust of the earth was beneath him.  So, the people saw to it that not even the donkey Jesus rode on would touch the ground. 

     Behold!  Your king comes to you.  He comes without an army.  Rather, he comes with disciples.  He comes without a war cry.  Rather, he comes to the sound of children singing his praises.  He comes without brandishing any weapons or issuing a threat.  The way he comes shows you both the nature of the visit and the nature of this king.  While Herod the Great would reign by conniving and killing, Jesus comes in humility. 

     Behold!  Your king is coming to you.  He comes to you in mercy.  It is important to recognize and to remember that.  There is always a danger in thinking that we have God’s favor upon us because we deserve it or because we have behaved better than others.  If that were the case, we would want Jesus to come with payment, not mercy.  But mercy is not a payment or a reward.  It is never deserved.  Rather, it is given to the undeserving.

     When Herod the Great learned that his own sons were plotting against him, Herod did not show any mercy to them.  He had caught them red-handed in conspiracy.  His sons could not plead, “We deserve better than this!”  They were guilty of treason, and there was no denying it.  They could beg for mercy, but they could not demand it.  Not even their royal lineage was enough to spare them.  Herod showed no mercy for those who crossed him.  That was the nature of King Herod.

     Behold!  Your king is coming to you.  He comes in mercy.  He answers the prayers of his people, “Hosanna to the Son of David!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!  Hosanna in the highest” (Matthew 21:9).  Hosanna means, “Lord, save us.”  It is the cry of those who need mercy.  We plead for it the Lord’s mercy because we have rebelled against the king of heaven and earth.  There are people who can fault us for sins we have committed against them, but every sin is rebellion against God.  If I sin against my wife, I also sin against God who gave her to me.  If I am impatient with other people, I sin against God who gave me my neighbor to love.  Therefore, we confess with Psalm 51: “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment” (Psalm 51:4).  This is what we deserve because we have been caught red-handed in rebellion against God, in criticism of him, and in neglect of keeping ourselves pure.  If we are condemned for our sins, we bear the blame for it.  God is blameless in that judgment.  If the nature of the king is that he is righteous, as Zechariah says, then it is also his nature that he must punish the guilty.

     Behold!  Your king is coming to you.  Behold!  He is righteous and having salvation!  Jesus maintains his righteousness and holds forth mercy at the same time.  This is the nature of his visit.  While some kings come to slaughter those who have crossed them, Jesus goes to the cross to be slain for sinners.  When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, he knew what he was about to endure.  He was going there to take on the guilt of all sin and bear the curse for all sinners.  Jesus becomes the guilty one on behalf of all of us.  Now, if all guilt rests upon Jesus, then Jesus suffered what the guilty deserve.  Jesus died with our guilt, therefore he upheld righteousness.  But you and I receive mercy.  For, we truly do deserve the damning death.  But our king, in his mercy, pardons our offenses and lets us go free.  This is our salvation.

     Behold!  Your king comes to you in answer to your prayers.  “Hosanna to the Son of David!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!  Hosanna in the highest” (Matthew 21:9).  Hosanna!  “Lord, save us!”  And he has.  And he who died to save you now lives because he has risen from the grave.  Jesus has established a kingdom which will endure forever because Jesus lives and reigns forever.  There is no higher power.  There is no greater authority.  There is no other refuge.

     Your king lives and reigns for you.  The whole world can conspire against him, deny him, refuse to honor him, and try to establish their own power over him.  In fact, much of the world seeks to overthrow God’s truth and tries to enforce its own beliefs upon us.  Cancel culture has been put in place to silence anyone who even questions the world’s new truths.  We have good reasons to pray so that we would remain faithful to our Lord and so that we will be willing to confess God’s word as we have opportunity.  We have good reason to attend church and Bible classes for strengthening our faith and for mutual encouragement. 

     But we do not need to fear.  This is what the Lord says: “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?  The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”  He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.  Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill” (Psalm 2:1-6).  Jesus lives and reigns.  Both his kingdom and his word endure forever.  Herod the Great attempted to destroy the Christ and failed.  Many have attacked Christ’s Church to snuff it out, yet the Church endures.  No king, no matter how wicked, will destroy the kingdom of God.  And no king, no matter how violent, can rip you out of it.  Even if they end your life in this world, they cannot rob you of eternal life with Jesus. 

     Behold!  Your king is coming to you, and he still comes to you in the sacrament.  We join the Palm Sunday crowd and sing, “Hosanna in the highest!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”  The Lord Jesus comes to us veiled in the bread and the wine.  We rejoice because we recognize the nature of our king.  He comes in the name of the Lord—righteous, merciful, and having salvation.  We rejoice because we know the nature of the visit.  This is for you, for the forgiveness of sins.  He delivers to us the body and blood which have overcome death and supply eternal life.  He feeds us and strengthens us so that we are able to stand faithfully against the enemies of Christ and his Church.  If Jesus Christ is our refuge, we will be suffer no real harm.

     Behold!  Your king is coming to you.  Jesus still rules by mercy.  He guides us on paths of righteousness so that we honor him with our lives.  And even though we do not do this perfectly, we do not need to fear his righteous judgment.  For, “the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).  Your king is kind and compassionate.  He is patient with you and speaks tenderly to you.  For, Jesus paid a great price to win you as his own.  He sustains you through your struggles.  He is faithful to you and will not forsake you.  He is eager to keep you as his own.

     Behold!  Your king is coming to you.  He will come again to judge the living and the dead.  And just as the people of Jerusalem received Jesus eagerly and with great joy, we will be even more eager to see Jesus return.  For, we know the nature of our king: he is our merciful Savior.  And we know the nature of his visit: he will bring us into everlasting glory.  Jesus has already told us what he will say to us at the final judgment: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34). 

     Therefore, our songs of praise continue: “Hosanna in the highest!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”  For, Jesus comes to save us.  He comes for our good.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.