Old Testament Lesson; Zechariah 9:9-10
Epistle Lesson; Philippians 2:5-11
Sermon Text; Matthew 21:1-11

Our sermon text for today is the Gospel Lesson for Palm Sunday, taken from Matthew 21, looking at verses 1-11.

Today, as we look at our text, on this Palm Sunday, I would like to address these three things.

First of all, who is it who rides into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday?

Secondly, how is it that He rides into Jerusalem?

And then thirdly, how are we, today in the 21^st century, to meet Him?

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the Bible tells us Wise Men came from the East. They went to King Herod in Jerusalem, and asked this question: "Where is the One who has been born King of the Jews? We have seen His star in the east and have come to worship Him."

Well, Herod heard that question and the Bible tells us Jerusalem was disturbed, because Herod was disturbed. You see, Herod was coming to the end of his reign and he was coming to the end of his life. He was wondering who would succeed him as king, in and around the Jerusalem area. It was the Wise Men who asked, "Where is the King?"

Herod was troubled. And, Jerusalem was troubled, because they knew whenever Herod got angry, they better watch out. And, we know what took place. Herod was so angry about hearing of another king that he had all of the baby boys, in and around the Jerusalem area, put to death.

Well, over thirty years passed after that event, when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. And not once during that time frame does the Gospel writer Matthew say anything about Jesus being King. Only after He was born, when the Wise Men asked, "Where is the One who was born King of the Jews?" until now, when Matthew quotes the prophet Zechariah, and says, "See your King comes to you."

The Gospel writer Matthew is identifying for us, the readers, who it is that is coming into Jerusalem. It is not just any individual, but this is the King. And this is not just an ordinary king, but this is the King of kings and this is the Lord of lords.

Before Jesus enters Jerusalem, He asks two of His disciples to go ahead of Him and get a donkey and a colt. Those two disciples asked a good question. They ask, "Jesus, if someone asks us why we are taking this donkey and colt, what are we to tell them?"

Jesus says, "Tell him that the Lord needs them." Jesus not only identifies Himself as a King, but He also identifies Himself as the Lord.

As Jesus is riding into Jerusalem, we hear the shouts of the people, and they identify Jesus, too. "Hosanna to the Son of David!" They recognize that Jesus was a descendent of David.

At the end of our text for today the crowd ask again that very simple question, "Who is this?"

And the people cry out, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee."

With all of those words, our text for today identifies who it is that is riding into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.

This is Jesus, the King.

He is the Lord.

He is the Son of David. And He is, not just a prophet, but He is the prophet from Nazareth, in Galilee.

Throughout the course of His life, Jesus would have come to Jerusalem for the Passover many times. But this time is different. This time is different, because Jesus knew that He was going to Jerusalem to die. He knew He was going to Jerusalem to die for your sins. He knew that He was going to Jerusalem to die for my sins. And He knew that He was going to Jerusalem to die and to pay for the sins of the whole world.

Well, with that mindset, how is it that Jesus enters into Jerusalem? When I was a kid growing up, we would go to my parents’ lake place for a vacation every summer. The most exciting part of the journey was the very last turn, because it was on the very last turn you came off the gravel road, and you turned to the left, and there it was. There was the lake, the long anticipated end of the journey.

It was just like that for all of the travelers who would come to Jerusalem, particularly during the time of the Passover. The very last leg of the journey, for those who were coming from Galilee, was a seventeen-mile journey from the city of Jericho to Jerusalem. And on those seventeen miles, the travelers would go up two thirds of a mile, walking up hill, for that portion of the journey. On the road they could not see the city of Jerusalem, because the Mount of Olives was in the way. It was finally, when the travelers got to Bethany, they rounded the Mount of Olives and took a right hand turn, and there it was. There was the city of Jerusalem. They could see and view it, just two miles away.

The excitement grew and the people stirred. And particularly on this Passover, on this Palm Sunday, they were stirring because their King was coming. And so, the people shout out, "Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!"

As Jesus enters into Jerusalem, as He is on the way, He shows that He is in charge of the moment. As He tells two of His disciples to go and get a donkey and a colt, the disciples ask, "Lord, how do you know those are going to be there?"

Jesus shows His omniscience. He shows that He is all-knowing. Those disciples, when they were asked, simply said, "We are taking this donkey and this colt, because the Lord is in need of them."

We would think that the King of kings would ride into Jerusalem on a white stallion. We would think He would ride into Jerusalem wearing a robe, a crown, and have a scepter in His hand. And yet, Jesus rides in on a colt, along with its mother. By doing so, Jesus fulfilled the prophesy that was written 550 years before He did it, fulfilling that prophesy from the prophet Zechariah, "See your King comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey."

Knowing that it is Jesus, our King, coming in complete knowledge and humility, how is it that we, today, in the 21^st century, what is it that we can get out of our scripture reading from Matthew 21? Our text for today says that we should honor the Lord with our actions and with our voices. That is what the people on Palm Sunday did. They honored Jesus with their actions and with their voices, "Hosanna to the Son of David." One of the hymns that we sing in our hymnbook talk about the honor we can give to the Lord with our voices and our actions. It is the hymn,

"Take my life and let it be."

Verse one says,

"Take my life and let it be

consecrated Lord to Thee.

Take my moments and my days,

let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Verse three,

"Take my voice and let me sing,

always, only for my King.

Take my lips and let them be filled

with messages from Thee."

Verse five,

"Take my will and make it Thine.

It shall be no longer mine.

Take my life and it is Thine own.

It shall be Thy royal throne."

Today, too, we recognize that we don't always bring the honor due our Lord with our voices and with our actions. We are just like the Palm Sunday crowd. On Palm Sunday, they sang praises to Jesus. But, just five days later, it was that same crowd that was shouting out to Jesus, "Crucify Him. Crucify Him!" Today we recognize that there are moments in our lives when, yes, we do bring praises to the Lord through our voices and our actions. But, there are times, too, there are moments too, when we show just how shallow our love for Jesus is. Those same voices that we used for praising the Lord, we take those same voices and we use them to curse men.

During these last few weeks, Pastor Bartels, in Adult Forum, has been going through a study of ‘Taming the Tongue.’ One of the sections of scripture that you have looked at is from the book of James, chapter 3, says,

"With the tongue we praise our Lord.

And with it we curse men.

Out of the same mouth comes praise and cursing.

My brothers, this should not be."

But, this is the very reason why Jesus is making this journey.

Jesus is making this journey into Jerusalem because

He knows

you and I need a Savior.

He knows that this journey is going to take Him to the cross.

He knows that this journey is going to end in His death.

But, He knows that this journey is going to pay for your sins. This journey is going to pay for my sin. And, this journey is going to pay for the sin of the whole world. Thanks be to our Savior for going to the cross to save us from our sin.

Today, too, we can also take some good things away from looking at the donkey and colt of our text. The colt that Jesus rode on had never been ridden before. Animals that have not been ridden before like to buck off their passengers. Donkeys also aren't known for being submissive animals, but rather they are known as being quite stubborn. And yet, this donkey and this colt present themselves to the Lord to be used in service to Him. And that service was bringing the King of kings into Jerusalem.

Do you present yourself to the Lord, to be used? Today, as you go home, I encourage you to consider continuing to present yourself to the Lord to be used. Present yourself to the Lord to be used for your school. Present yourself to the Lord to be used for your church. And, present yourself to the Lord to be used for your synod. And, just as the donkey and the colt presented themselves to Jesus to be used in service for Him, may you too, present yourself in service to the Lord, to be used by Him.

Today I close with this true story. Many years ago, a missionary by the name of Henry C. Morrison spent forty years of service. He presented himself to the Lord and he spent forty years as a missionary over in Africa. Because of health problems, he needed to come back to the United States. On his journey back to the United States, across the Atlantic Ocean on a ship, he wondered to himself, "Is anybody going to be there on the dock? Is anybody going to be there in the harbor to welcome me home?"

Well, unbeknownst to Henry C. Morrison, President Teddy Roosevelt was on that same ship. He was coming back from an African safari.

When they reached the harbor, there were lots of people in the harbor. There were lots of people standing on the dock. So, Henry C. Morrison went down into the belly of the ship, and gathered all of his possessions. When he came up to the deck, everybody was gone. They were not there to welcome him. They were there to welcome President Teddy Roosevelt. Henry Morrison was angry. He was mad. He said, "For forty years I have presented myself to the Lord to be used for service to Him and now I come back and there is nobody here to welcome me home."

Well, his wife came up next to him. She put her arm around his shoulder and said, "Henry, you have forgotten something. You have forgotten that you are not Home yet. And you won't be Home, until you get to Heaven."

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we are not Home, yet. Sometimes life may not be fair. Sometimes we may say to ourselves, "We are not getting the reward that is due us for the work we have done for the Lord." Remember, you are not Home, yet. Remember we are not Home, yet. But, we do know what Home will be like, because the book of Revelation gives us a wonderful picture of what our home in Heaven is going to be like. And you know what, it is going to be like a little Palm Sunday every day! In describing Heaven, the author of the book of Revelation says,

"After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and they were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.'"

It is as if they are shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!"

Thanks be to our King!

Thanks be to our King,

who rode

into Jerusalem

to save us

from our sin!

Amen.