Palm Sunday at
Epiphany on
Matthew 21:1
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.'" 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
to the Son of David!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Hosanna
in the highest!" 10 When Jesus entered
It takes a certain kind of person to enjoy jumping out of airplanes … or off of
mountains or out of balloons or from bridges. The next extreme sport may be skydiving
from space. You can see videos of this “sport” on youtube. One of the people who
planned to do this back in 2002 was Rodd Millner, an Australian ex-commando. He
was going to climb into a space suit and ride a balloon to an altitude of 130,000
ft. He estimated that, within a minute of leaving the balloon, he would read speeds
between 700 and 900 miles an hour. He wanted to set the record for the highest skydive
and also break the sound barrier without a vehicle. These skydivers from space figure
that they can jump safely because as they get closer to the ground, the heavier
air in the lower atmosphere will reduce their speed enough for them to pull the
ripcord on their parachute.
Even if
Millner had carried through with his plans, he would not have set the record for
the highest skydive. That record belongs to a person who climbed into the skin of
humanity and jumped from an altitude where only angels fly. This skydive from heaven
not only broke distance records, it shattered the sin barrier that stands between
God and us. Like the crowds in
While
space skydivers plan on landing safely and alive, that’s not at all what Jesus expected
when he took his plunge to earth. Skydivers may have an X marking the spot of their
landing, Jesus had a cross mark his destination. The apostle Paul speaks of this
plunge from heaven to earth, “Christ Jesus … being in very nature God, [Jesus] did
not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant … he humbled himself and became obedient to
death – even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:6-8) While Millner may have been
planning his space dive to make a name for himself, Jesus took the plunge to earth
to make a name for us. Through his death on the cross Jesus changed our name from
“Enemy of God” to “Child of God,” from “Satan’s Little Heathen” to “Mature Christian.”
Though
Jesus was a servant, he certainly was not forced into doing what he did. No one
can force Jesus into doing anything against his will for he is the mightiest person
this world has known. Just look at the superhuman powers Jesus displayed on Palm
Sunday. He knew exactly where his disciples could find a donkey for him to ride
in his parade. And then he bent the will of the donkey’s owner to allow the disciples
to borrow a vehicle from a stranger’s driveway. These events assure us that Jesus
was not fooled nor was he forced into coming to earth. Because he knows all things
Jesus was aware that his plunge from heaven to earth would result in his death.
At any
point, Jesus could have pulled the ripcord on his parachute as he was plummeting
to earth and abandoned his plans to save us. But he chose not to. Instead of a safe
landing for himself, he wanted a safe and saved landing for sinners. So he took
all of his powers, all of his glory, all of his desires, all of his energy and focused
them into submitting himself to his Father’s will in order to save humanity.
Jesus
spoke time and again about how he was destined to go to
Still
with all of the obvious references Jesus made not only to his death, but also to
the manner of his death, how did everyone miss it? The main explanation seems to
be that they were all blinded by self-interest in one way or another. Peter absolutely
didn’t want to hear it, and took Jesus aside and rebuked him. James and John were
too caught up in the heavenly seating arrangement. The crowds were delirious with
the idea that someone had finally come along who would put the Romans in their place.
They all had their own ideas of what should be, and when, and where, and how. But
all of these bright thinkers, from the moment Jesus was arrested, “forsook him and
fled.”
I find it interesting
that in John’s account of this procession, he follows it up with Jesus making a
strong statement on discipleship: “The man who loves his life will lose it, while
the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be.” (John
12:25-26)
If you look closely, can you see your face in the crowds on that Palm Sunday? As long as we can prosper; as long as we can have good health; as long as we can sing about heaven; as long as we can claim the promises; we’ll follow Jesus anywhere. But what do we do when it comes time to embrace the cross? What do we do when following Jesus means losing instead of winning? What do we do when it means giving instead of receiving? What do we do when it even means dying instead of living?
Like the crowds in
Jesus came to serve us, but that doesn’t mean that we should treat him as our servant. We do that when we only come to him in prayer when everything else we’ve tried has failed. We treat him as our servant when we demand that he supply us with health and wealth and plenty of pleasures. We treat him as the one who serves us when we come to church only when it is convenient for us, not because he deserves our palms and praise.
Jesus had his sights
set on
Our King came to serve. King Jesus shed his royal robes
and plunged to earth in order save us from our sins. He shed his royal blood to
suffer the sentence in our place. He had no earthly palace, because he came not
to live with us, but to bring us to live with him in heavenly mansions. He is our
Protector, Provider and Rescuer. Because of what Jesus, your Lord and King has done
for you, be assured that your heavenly Father does love you. You are forgiven. You
have been restored to the joy of your salvation. Wave your palm branches, shout
your hosannas to your Lord and King.
Jesus understood all the different thoughts that people had about him during his parade – restorer of a nation, a bread king, or a zealot to break Roman rule. Palm Sunday is the day when, knowing that people are fickle, get tired of parades and go home, Jesus came riding. It’s a day when, knowing that religious leaders like things neat and tidy and kill reformers, Jesus came riding. It’s a day when, knowing that people will sell their souls for a handful of silver and that even good friends will sleep while he suffers, Jesus came riding.
Jesus came riding because he knew that all of humanity needed to have him ride into
our lives as the Messiah who would save us from hell through his cross and empty
grave.
Jesus
is our humble King who came to serve. Doesn’t that sound like a contradiction? Humble
King. A King who came to serve. Zechariah prophesied the humility of the Jesus our
King: “See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the
foal of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9b). Do you see the humility of Jesus in those words?
Not just in the obvious part about riding on a donkey instead of a stallion, but
that other part: “Your King comes to you.” We need a King who comes to us because
we can’t go to him. Because we’ve sinned we can’t expect to walk through the gates
of heaven without being stopped. But Jesus is humble enough to come out to us. He
rode out of heaven to establish his kingdom, not by shedding the blood of his enemies
(us), but by shedding his own blood.
Jesus,
our humble King still comes to serve us, just as he did for the people of
Although
Rodd Millner never made his record-setting jump, there are plenty of other skydivers
from space who are willing to fall farther and from a higher point than any previous
jump. Even if new records are set, they still won’t break Jesus’ record, nor will
their jumps change our lives as Jesus did when he leapt from the highest heavens
down to the deepest depths. He is the King who came to serve.
What joy!
What relief! And what is our response?
We give
God the clothes off our back. We give him our donkey. We bring him our offerings.
We make increasing our offerings a privilege rather than an obligation. We stop
standing on the sidelines in the crowd. We get involved in his ministries. We don’t
count the cost of following Jesus. We count the cost of not following him.
We serve him who first served us. We wave our palm branches. We sing his
praises. We make worship a priority, not a duty. We work for him and worship him.
We shout for all the world to hear that he is our servant King – and we are proud
of it. Amen.