Deo Gloria
March 24, 2024
Sermon for Palm Sunday
Pastor Martin Bentz
Text: Zechariah 9:9+10
Theme: Rejoice! Your King Has Come.
- His approach is unpretentious.
- His agenda is salvation.
- His message is peace.
When I hear the word “king,” I tend to think of kings from back in the days of the Middle Ages, someone like King Henry VIII or King James I, the one who commissioned the writing of the King James version of the Bible. Now days there aren’t too many kings around anymore. In fact, I find myself rather hard pressed to come up with the name of even one reigning king just off the top of my head. Today world leaders tend to be presidents, like the president of our country.
Imagine for a second what it would be like if President Biden were planning to pay a visit to Belle Plaine next week. Imagine how excited people would be. Imagine all the planning and preparation that would be underway around town. Imagine how you would feel if, while he was here, you would have the opportunity to actually meet the president or have dinner with him and his wife. Perhaps then you can relate to how the people in Jerusalem felt that first Palm Sunday. Their king had come, the king they had waited for and longed for for so many years. The Messiah himself had finally come. The words of the prophets were being fulfilled right before their very eyes, and they were part of it–words like these spoken by the Prophet Zechariah some 500 years before:
Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your King comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the war-horses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.
Though we happen to live almost 2,000 years later, we certainly share the sentiment of God’s people in Jerusalem. We too are filled with joy and excitement. We too cannot help but lift up our voices in songs of praise. After all, our King has come. And that gives us plenty of reason to rejoice.
If President Biden did come to town, he would no doubt arrive in a limousine, which more than likely would be part of a larger presidential motorcade, not to mention a police escort. No doubt, if the president came to town, he would stay at a fancy hotel in the Twin Cities area or perhaps at the home of some distinguished citizen. Likewise, he would probably dine at the finest restaurants. After all, he is the President of the United States. He deserves the best, the top of the line.
What a contrast we see in Jesus Christ, our King. Though as sovereign ruler of the universe Jesus certainly deserves the best, he in no way expects or demands it. He is anything but pretentious. Instead he is very humble and gentle, which is clearly evident in the manner in which he entered Jerusalem.
Most kings back in Jesus’ day would have ridden into town on the back of a stallion or in a chariot overlaid with gold, but not Jesus. As foretold by the prophet Zechariah, he came into town on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Here was no pomp. Here was no pretense. Here was no attempt to put on airs. Here was plain and simple humility. What a refreshing sight!
Jesus, our King, is not like most other kings or world leaders, people who often think of themselves as being in a class of their own, a cut above the rest. Rather, Jesus was humble. He wasn’t too proud to rub shoulders with ordinary people. He wasn’t concerned about himself or about trying to make a name for himself. He could really have cared less about power or position or money. Instead Jesus was concerned about his people and trying to help them, trying to take care of their needs. In his mind they came first. He came second.
I mean, think about it. Jesus willingly set aside his glory and honor and power as the Son of God in order to come into this world and become one of us. While here, he lived a very humble life, the life of a peasant really, owning little more than the clothes on his back. And ultimately, in spite of the fact that the charges against him were trumped up and the jury stacked, Jesus willingly and humbly submitted to Pilate’s verdict and was crucified. This humility of his is what Paul describes in Philippians ch. 2:
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus; who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death–even death on a cross! (vv. 5-8)
And what was his motive in all this? Why did Jesus humble himself and become obedient to death, even death on a cross? He did it for you, and he did it for me–for all people. We needed a Savior, someone to rescue us from our sins. So Jesus fulfilled that need. He put us and our needs first and put himself and his own personal comfort second. That’s humility, considering others better than yourself. That’s humility, putting others ahead of yourself. That’s Jesus Christ, our Savior and King. Who wouldn’t rejoice to have a leader like that?
Secondly, let’s look at his agenda. Most kings or world leaders have an agenda, a list of things they would like to accomplish during their reign or term in office. Take President Biden, for example. One of the main items on his agenda has been addressing the issue of climate change.
Not surprisingly, Jesus had an agenda too. The difference, though, is that Jesus had only one item on his agenda: our salvation. The prophet Zechariah put it this way in our text: “See, your King comes to you, righteous and having salvation”(v. 9). Jesus had not come to Jerusalem to demand the resignation of the Roman governor and lay claim to his rightful throne. Nor had Jesus come to Jerusalem to address the problems of poverty and crime. No, Jesus came to Jerusalem for one reason and one reason only: to accomplish our salvation.
For thousands of years already God had promised to send a Savior, someone who would rescue people from sin, from death and from the power of the devil. When the right time had come, God sent his own Son to be that Savior. And now, while he was here in Jerusalem, Jesus was determined to accomplish that mission. He even told his disciples about it ahead of time: “We are going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified”(Matthew 20:18+19).
Yes, here in Jerusalem Jesus was going to die. It was a trade off of sorts. Jesus certainly didn’t deserve to die. He never did anything wrong. No, we were the ones who deserved to die because of the sins we committed: you know, the lies we told, the lies we told to our parents, to our teacher at school, to our boss, to our friends; the times we lost our temper and yelled in anger at our spouse, at our children, at our students, at a fellow Christian; the times we were so stinking selfish that all we could think about was ourselves and what we wanted; the times we broke our promises and proved unfaithful to our family and friends. For these and all our sins we deserve to be punished. We deserve to die. That’s what the Bible says, “The wages of sin is death.”
In order to rescue us from the death we deserved, Jesus died instead. He gave his life in place of ours as a sacrifice or payment for our sins. Thus, when Jesus cried out on the cross “It is finished,” that’s exactly what he meant. It was finished. Our salvation was complete. Nothing more needed to be done. The payment had been made. Our sins had been atoned for. Our salvation was secured. Here we find another reason to rejoice that Christ, our King, has come. His agenda was salvation, and he accomplished everything on his agenda.
Thirdly, let’s look at his message. While out on the campaign trail political candidates will often address a wide range of issues and offer their solutions to a host of different problems. Once they get into office, however, they often tend to focus on one particular issue and make that the theme or basic message of their administration.
For Jesus, the message is peace. Again, listen to what was foretold by the Prophet Zechariah. “He will proclaim peace,” he said, “peace to the nations”(v. 10). That message was echoed by the angels who announced the arrival of our new-born King: “Glory to God in the highest,” they sang, “and on earth peace, good will toward men.” And, of course, peace was a message that was heard from our Savior’s lips as well. A good example is found in John, ch. 14: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid”(v. 27).
The peace the world has to offer is a physical peace, a peace among nations, the end of fighting, the cessation of violence and hostility. It sounds wonderful. The only problem is the world can’t deliver on what it offers. Need an example? Just look at our own country. Here we’re supposed to be a nation at peace, yet you would hardly know it from reading the headlines. Each year thousands and thousands of people fall victim to violence and murder.
The peace that Jesus offers is different. The peace Jesus offers is a spiritual peace, peace for our hearts, peace with God. It stems from what our Savior Jesus accomplished for us at the cross. There Jesus restored peace between us and God. He did so by removing the bone of contention between us, our sins. With our sins out of the picture, you and I don’t have to be afraid of God anymore or afraid that he is going to punish us for our sins. Our sins are gone. As far as God is concerned, they are forgiven and forgotten. So our hearts can be at peace.
In addition, through faith in Jesus Christ, our Savior, God has adopted us into his family and made us his children. As his children, we are also his heirs, heirs of the kingdom of heaven, which also puts our hearts at ease. You and I don’t have to wonder about what’s going to happen to us when we die. We know what’s going to happen. We know we’re going to heaven to live with Christ, our Savior and King, to live with him in perfect peace forever. That’s the kind of peace Jesus has to offer. And needless to say, he delivers. He always makes good on his promises. Such peace for our souls is offered to you and me and everyone in the gospel, the good news about Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, our King.
So “rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!” See, your King has come! Amen.