Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday 4/1/12 Text: Matthew 21:1-8 Title: Sometimes You Cannot See the Messiah for the Palm Branches. Today is one of those wonderful turning points in the Christian Church year. We have been in Lent, a somber time of reflection. Next week we enter Passion Week that time when we follow our Savior to the cross. But today we celebrate with the people of long ago that Sunday we now call Palm Sunday that marks Jesus triumphant entrance into Jerusalem. It is a time of mixed feelings. Joy, because, as New Testament people we know the outcome of the story. Jesus’ death is not the end, but the beginning for us. Sorrow, because we know, or at least we should know, that since there is no good in us according to what God’s Word tells us we are each responsible for Jesus’ death. I hope that all of you will attend Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services, for without attending those services you really cannot get the true meaning of the Resurrection which we will celebrate on Easter Sunday. That first Palm Sunday so long ago Jesus was being treated like a rock star by the oppressed people of God who were enslaved by the Romans and lorded over by their religious leaders. It is true he did not look like a king when he came into the city that day riding on a donkey. No, he did not appear very kinglike, but they had heard of him and his miracles, so they knew he was going to be the king they had been waiting for. For after all he had made wine out of water, fed five thousand plus people with just five loaves of bread and two small fish, healed people, and on top of that he was really good at putting their religious leaders in their place; those self-righteous Pharisees and Sadducees who imposed so much misery on them with all laws they had come up with over time. They needed help, serious help and Jesus was their man. But yet we hear the question even as they welcomed him, “Who is this?” The question is a fair question, one that has to be asked and answered by anyone who is seeking relief from the pain of life. Did the people back on that first Palm Sunday know that the person they were adoring and honoring that day realize the full impact of what they were saying? I doubt it. Did they understand the spiritual nature of Jesus’ kingdom, that he would establish his kingdom by his suffering, death, and resurrection and that he would rule in peoples’ hearts and lives by the power of the gospel? I doubt that too. I say that most did not, just like most do not know today, because Saint John tells us in the Twelfth chapter of his Gospel that he wrote that even “his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him.” Nevertheless, Jesus accepted the divine praise and messianic acclamations by which the people honored him in word and deed, for the crowds were speaking the truth about Jesus that day. Their words have been immortalized in Scripture so that people of all times and places may learn and know the truth about Jesus through their words. "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" Hosanna, by the way means, “Save us!” We, just like the people of Jesus’ day have a hard time knowing the true Jesus, for we by our very nature want a Jesus who we have formed in our own image. For some it is a Jesus of power who is going to get those people they don’t like. For others it is a Jesus who is going to bless them with worldly wealth and honor. Still, for others Jesus sets a great example of how to live. The list could go on and on as Jesus gets molded into whoever it is that makes a person comfortable with him. There is an old saying, “You can’t see the forest for the trees” which means you can get so caught up in small things that you can’t see the point of what is being talked about. That is why I titled my sermon for today, “Sometimes You Cannot See the Messiah for the Palm Branches.” Just like so many people in Jesus’ day could not see him for who he really is, many people today cannot, as I just mentioned see the true Jesus because they have made him into something he isn’t, a glorious king who is going to give us all we want, if we just worship, pray, give, and belief enough. Life is going to be good, if we just work with Jesus, for after all doesn’t God want us to have a good life? That is what they believed on that day so long ago. That is what is believed today. But then, suddenly, everything changed in less than a week. It was terrible. Their hope for a better life was betrayed, arrested, put on trial, and nailed to that terrible cross. Hopes and dreams shattered. There is nothing left except the haunting image of his hands, the unbearably large gashes, and the deep, dark red of his wounds. Those nails, you see ruined their whole plan. Their life did not turn out the way they had planned just like our life doesn’t always turn out the way we plan. The older you get, no matter how successful you are, the more you discover how true that statement is. The excitement, the energy, the wonder you experience as a child slowly fades away, leaving you with the mundane routine of bills, work, and family obligations. You come to learn that the hopes and dreams of your youth never quite seem to be fulfilled. There is a sense of lostness and emptiness. We spend our lives thinking, if only my marriage were a little bit better; if only I could make a little more money; if only my children were a little more successful; if only I were just a little more attractive; then I would be happy. Then I would finally be content. But all too often, loving marriages grow cold, exciting careers turn dull, gifted children lose their way, and youthful bodies grow old. And then, when we least expect it, tragedy strikes. Suffering, disease, and death disrupt our lives. And we cry out with those that were there the day Jesus came into Jerusalem, “Hosanna” which means have mercy. Save us. Why, God, would you allow this to happen? Why, God, does life always have to be so full of sorrow and pain and hurt?” These are the ultimate questions we all must face. They won’t be answered by the Jesus of prosperity and good health. They can only be answered and understood in light of the suffering, weak appearing Jesus, as he hung on that bloody cross. For, as we will soon celebrate at the end of this Holy Week, a few days after he died, Jesus rose again from the dead and appeared before his disciples in the Upper Room where they had been hiding frightened and lost with no hope. Strong and full of life, Jesus appeared in the room. Raising his arms into the air; his hands opened wide, inviting all to see. Incredibly, just above both wrists, the large gashes left by the nails could still be seen, except they were somehow now beautiful. Filled with wonder, joy, and awe, those that saw Jesus after his resurrection stared at his wounds, realizing in that moment that the nails hadn’t ended everything, but had redeemed everything; the prophecies from so long ago had been fulfilled. Jesus had conquered suffering and death. Someday each one of us will also stand before the Lord in glory, gazing upon his nail-scarred, but yet beautiful outstretched hands. And in gazing on him each of us will realize that everything we thought had been making our life miserable was actually being used by God to save it. For now we live our lives both in joy and sorrow. At times there might seem to be more sorrow than joy. But since Jesus bore our sins, our suffering, our death we can be confident that we will be transformed into a people of everlasting joy. That is the promise of the cross and resurrection. Amen.