Palm Sunday – Pr. Anderson sermon
St. Matthew 21:1-9 “In Lowly Pomp, Jesus Rides on to Die for You”
April 13, 2025 | Christ Lutheran Church
In Nomine Iesu
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Almighty and everlasting God, who led Your dear Son Jesus Christ through sufferings and death to Your eternal glory, and exalted Him at Your right hand to be Lord of Lords and King of Kings, we humbly ask You, grant us Your good Spirit that with willing hearts we may receive Him as our King and follow His example of true humility, that, being made perfect through sufferings, we may enter into eternal glory; through Your Son Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, now and forever. Amen. (The Lutheran Liturgy, companion altar book for The Lutheran Hymnal, p. 94)
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (Rom. 1:7, etc.)
The sermon text for today is taken from the 21st chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew. We read selected verses in Jesus’ name:
Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to Me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.”
This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, “Say to the Daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”
These are Your words, heavenly Father. Sanctify us by Your truth, Your Word is truth. Amen. (Joh. 17:17)
In Christ Jesus, who is the King riding on for you, riding on to die for your sins, dear fellow redeemed:
Scripture is full of parallels. You can hear a section, and it will sound as if it belonged somewhere else. To test it out, let’s hear this verse. And all the people went up after him, playing on pipes, and rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth was split by their noise (1 King 1:32:40). In this text you hear people in a parade. It sounds like our Gospel, but with a closer look, we hear the account of a different coronation. So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King David’s mule and brought him to Gihon. There Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon. Then they blew the trumpet, and all the people said, “Long live King Solomon!” (1 King 1:32-39). This coronation was done as one of David’s other sons tried to usurp the throne from David. So, there was great joy for Solomon to be crowned by King David. As he rode into Jerusalem to rule on his father’s throne, his descendant Jesus would ride into Jerusalem in the same way. But He would ride in lowly pomp to die for you.
It doesn’t sound like lowly pomp according to the crowd. Maybe some of them have drawn the parallels to Jesus and Solomon so it is fitting for them to sing for joy. The prophet Zechariah knew that a king would ride into Jerusalem like Solomon. He would prophesy, “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). While Zechariah reveals this King will be different than Solomon, the people have a plan for this king. The Bible continues to be fulfilled as the crowd gets part of their song from a song of ascent. Save us, we pray, O LORD! O LORD, we pray, give us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We bless you from the house of the LORD (Psalm 118:25-26). This does look like the Messiah. The parallels are certainly sealing the deal.
The Messiah the people want, might not be this, Messiah. Searching in Scripture and we see on a few occasions what the people want. They want this parallel exactly like Solomon. They have been without a king for so long. Jesus’ disciples have asked if Jesus would be establishing His earthly kingdom. After seeing His great power, the people thought they could just make Him king out in the wilderness. This is the One who will rule on David’s throne, right? If the people would have read a little further they would have read, “I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth” (Zechariah 9:10). Didn’t David lead troops into battle? Didn’t Solomon destroy his enemies to consolidate his rule? How is Jesus supposed to take control without any weapons?
While the people were still trying to figure out if Jesus was the Messiah, Jesus knew He was the Messiah. He orchestrates Palm Sunday not for the parallels, but to fulfill prophecies. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and He sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Like the coronation of Solomon, the people are preparing themselves for a great event. While they are getting ready for this parade of singing, looking to the great king, Jesus is going to come in humble and lowly. They are not able to change the will of the Father. Since they can’t change Jesus, we watch during the week in real time and see a shift begin to take place. With the people’s quest for power and seeing Jesus not taking what they believe He should, the leaders who want to keep their power, do all they can to keep it, and the crowd is stirred away from Jesus.
Jesus understands the people will be stirred up against Him. On this same triumphal journey, He weeps over the great city of His people. As He knows their destruction will come, He reveals, “And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation” (Luke 19:44b). We have the same impatient mind as the people in Jerusalem and easily can go from shouting, “Hosanna,” to “Crucify Him!” We see the parallels and we believe in the prophecies being fulfilled by Jesus. Yet, the fate of the people can be the same as ours if we are ever convinced that Jesus owes us as King. The temptation is very strong for us to demand this or that from our Savior. With great demands and no patience, we can forget Jesus rode in lowly pomp and is crowned our most holy judge whom we will answer too.
To fight the temptation of flipping from our Savior to against Him, we find comfort that Jesus stayed the course. He didn’t give into the temptation of power. He knew the power was His and did not make full use of it to complete the Father’s will. It is in His work we find clarity as St. John writes; His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him (John 12:16). Scripture is written to give clarity to all who look to Jesus for Salvation. From Genesis to Revelation, the plan of God and work of His Son are present. They are present for the salvation of creation so they may live in His kingdom which has no end. In this great love, the people see Christ’s lowliness.
This lowliness of love was to teach the people the love God looks for. It is a humble and lowly love of service. While people struggle with a love of service, Jesus reveals it in His triumphal entry riding on to die for His people. This very act is found in His name and opens the gates of the true kingdom as the Angel Gabriel told Joseph, “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21) It is in His great power to avoid what is coming at the end of this week. In service to His people so they would be saved, Jesus riding into Jerusalem with lowly pomp allows the people to pray on Thursday night, “Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, up to the horns of the altar!” (Psalm 118:27b)
As the great sacrifice, it seems impossible to have victory and death in the same sentence. The Scriptures were clear about who Jesus was going to be. He was not going to come and seek earthly power. He was going to come in humility and suffer many things. And the crowds that went before Him and that followed Him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” Jesus heard their shouts loud and clear. He can read hearts and He sees the suffering and pains of this world. So, He comes riding like a king, and is the King, but He rides to die a lamb for the slaughter. He rides carrying the world sins. While the world can still have problems with misunderstanding, Jesus understands it all. He rides to create understanding. An understanding of God’s great love to bring His people into the kingdom that has no end.
This kingdom is your promised home. When there are times the devil has you believing you may never enter His kingdom, know that Jesus knew this would take place. He knew many would struggle with His kingship that is not of this world. Before heading to the garden, Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered’ (Matthew 26:31). Jesus suffered the worst things possible to suffer in this life for the sake of His kingdom. He suffered the abandonment of His people, His closest friends, and His heavenly Father. And even though there will be failure by man to believe in God’s plan, Jesus sticks to the Scriptures and fulfills the prophesies of His promised salvation. He rides into Jerusalem toward suffering and dying on the cross for your sins and salvation.
The kingdom Jesus rides to die for, is a kingdom for the world. This is even more realized when His people abandoned Him and did not know the day of their visitation. Yet, Jesus rode lowly to die for them. He asks for His Father to forgive them. He saw their mistakes unfold, and though you were not there, it was your sins Jesus died on the cross for. In forgiveness, He brings you into His kingdom. You are now an heir to the King. You received His mark on your head and heart in baptism. You remember this mark every day when you rise and confess your sins. With water and the Word, you know your sins are washed away. Forgiveness that comes to you from your King’s cross. A cross He rode toward for you as you sing, “Ride on, ride on, in majesty! In lowly pomp ride on to die. Bow Thy meek head to mortal pain, Then take, O Christ, Thy pow’r and reign” (ELH #280 v. 5). Amen.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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