(Sermon by Pastor Michael D. Schultz 04/09/06) 

INTRODUCTION:

Not to sound foolish, but should we talk about Jesus today or about us?  Should we dive into the details of a Bible event that took place twenty centuries ago in a city that is 6458 miles away from here or should we zero in on current events and local circumstances that truly hit us where we live, like the rising price of gas, temptations we face every day, practical help for hectic lives and other things that are relevant for 21st Century Americans? 

In this house of God, we have to talk about both.  The teachings of Jesus are both historical and relevant.  When we combine the historical facts about Jesus Christ and the contemporary issues that face Christians, we end up with material that believers can sink their teeth into, ancient truths that have contemporary relevance.  Please bear that in mind as we observe the festival of Palm Sunday.  Jesus was welcomed into Jerusalem as a royal king, and he is that today.  But he rode into Jerusalem as a spiritual king, and that’s what we need him to be for us today.

Jesus Is The King Of The Ages

The events of the account certainly bear that out.  “Up ahead you’ll find a colt,” he said.  Anyone who knew his or her Bible knew today’s Old Testament lesson.  The one who rides into Jerusalem on a colt is the Messiah-King.  “Here’s where the colt will be.”  This King Jesus knows all things as only God could.  That means he must also know what’s waiting for him in Jerusalem – his blood-thirsty enemies.  “Bring it to me.”  He is a king who has every right to expect obedience.  “Tell them the Lord needs it.”  He is the only king to ever show up on this earth who is truly divine.

So what’s he doing on a donkey?  The divine Messiah-King God sends is gentle and lowly.  This colt has never been ridden before.  Biblically, that says he is on a spiritual mission, not a political one.  Unbroken colts don’t usually ride very well, especially with throngs of people loudly cheering and shouting.  The lowly king could still place that animal under his control.  Cloaks and palms branches?  Keep the dust down for a king like this.

Lastly, the shouts of the crowd.  To understand why they quoted Psalm 118 and recognized him as bringing in the kingdom of David, go back to a marquis event in David’s life – his battle against Goliath.  More than anything, David’s fight against Goliath was a spiritual one.  That tall powerful warrior was openly ridiculing God.  The young, much smaller shepherd boy couldn’t stomach such a thing.  So he went against Goliath not with sword or spear but in the name of the Lord, whom Goliath had defied.  That wasn’t an underdog beating a bully.  David depended on God to win what was a spiritual battle.

The Son of David did the same.  The devil was the unseen spiritual enemy.  Damning sin was what had to be done away with.  People whom God loved being cut off from God forever was the issue that had to be addressed in Jerusalem.  The king on the donkey shows up weaponless, armed only with pure reliance on the name of the Lord to help him win the battle.  Hosanna to him, the Son of David, up in the highest heavens, too!

So how is this Palm Sunday Jesus the king of the ages?  Where is the 21st Century relevance for people who are trying to make ends meet, people who have one relationship issue after another to deal with, people who get illnesses from which they’re not expected to recover, people who get tired and depressed, people who wonder if God has really forgiven and forgotten what they did, oh, so many years ago, or just last night?

Try this on for size.  With the king that Jesus is, how could he have processed into Jerusalem?  He could have tried the Ty Pennington approach, yelling through a bullhorn to get people to get a whole new house built in a week.  Come on, people!  He could have hounded your every step, crying out, “You have to do this.  You have to do that.  I am the king, and you are duty-bound to obey me.”  Or he could have done the same thing without being boisterous, very quietly and unassumingly, saying with a calm voice, “Do this or else.”  In short, with a thousand legions of angels at his beck and call, he could have had himself proclaimed king by force, simply but divinely demanding the obedience of all.  But would he have won your trust and your love and your heart?

There’s another approach.  Jesus could have come as a king and wiped out not some diseases but all diseases.  Hospitals would go out of business and the large pharmaceuticals would go bankrupt.  He could have set up a kingdom where groceries or gas or cars or houses or electricity were all free.  The crowds knew and you know from his miracles that he could have done all that effortlessly, with a wave of his all-powerful hand.  And maybe that’s extremely appealing and we would all cheer to have such a king.  But then we would die in our sins.

Is there relevance in a 1st Century event like Palm Sunday for 21st Century Christians who are bombarded with materialism and surrounded by humanism and troubled by racism and afflicted with pessimism, whose cars break down and whose bodies get sick, whose schoolmates pick on them and whose co-workers infuriate them?  Can this king help me?

Look how he came!  Not demanding obedience you could never give him but obeying for you.  Not powerfully making your life a heaven on earth, but lifting your eyes off this earth up to your real and permanent home in heaven by being crucified for your sins – by being crucified for your sins.  That’s what was to happen after he dismounted the donkey and the hosannas fell silent. 

Jesus is the King of the Ages.  He rode a pack animal in weakness to offer up his holy life for yours, to address your most pressing concerns, which are not cash flow, or the resolution of all health problems, or life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness to which you are told you are entitled.  He came like David against Goliath, in the name of the Lord, relying on God to make his rescue mission successful.  God did, and you are forgiven. 

That’s what will put you in good shape when loved ones die, when there’s not enough money to even think about putting something away for retirement, when there are still divorce ramifications ten years after the fact, when you just don’t think you can handle it anymore.  At an inestimable cost to himself, this Palm Sunday king brought me a pardon straight from heaven.  There’s no way he won’t cover my every need.  Hosanna to him!  Blessed is he!

(Top Of Page)

(Back To Archive)

(Current Worship Page)