Sunday of Passion
Zech
9:9-12
4/13/14
Political speeches are usually
staged events. Politicians choose to
give speeches in settings that help to support or reinforce their point. They choose a location or have people on the
stage with them that they hope will help drive home their message.
Of course, no politician has more
resources for doing this than the President of the United States. And so it was
that on May 1, 2003 that President George W. Bush used the Nimitz class
aircraft carrier U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln as the setting for his speech
announcing that the invasion of Iraq to remove Sadaam Hussein had ended. The president made a grand entrance as he
landed on the aircraft carrier in a jet.
Then he made his speech there was a huge banner in the background on the
aircraft carrier island that said, “Mission Accomplished.”
However, subsequent events
contradicted the message of that day, and the “Mission Accomplished” banner
became a powerful symbol for a broad range of miscalculations about Iraq. Instead of “Mission Accomplished” the
situation in Iraq soon turned into one of an ongoing war as the U.S. fought
against an insurgency campaign. In fact,
the U.S. military would not leave Iraq until the end of 2011 after nearly five
thousand service personnel had been killed in action.
Today we are observing Palm Sunday
and the Sunday of the Passion. The Divine Service began outside in the
procession with palms as we recalled Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem on a
donkey. Our Old Testament reading from
Zechariah this morning was fulfilled in this event. Matthew tells us, “This took place to fulfill
what was spoken by the prophet, saying, ‘Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold,
your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the
foal of a beast of burden.’”
Matthew tells us that like the
“Mission Accomplished” speech, Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem was staged. It was choreographed by Jesus in order to
form a very clear impression for those observing the event. It was meant to say that Jesus was the Christ
– the Messiah. And yet as we heard in
the reading of the Passion of Our Lord this morning, by the end of the week
events powerfully contradicted that message.
The one heralded as the Davidic Messiah today would be mocked as the
King of the Jews by the sign above his head and by those below on the ground as
he died on a cross.
When we listen to the account of the
events leading up to Jesus’ entrance on Palm Sunday, we find that Jesus was
very specific about the way he was going to enter Jerusalem. After all, he could have walked into the
city. No doubt he had done this many
times before when he came to Jerusalem for the Passover and Jewish religious
festivals.
But this time was different. This trip to Jerusalem was different. In the previous chapter Jesus took the twelve
disciples aside and for the third time predicted his passion. He said, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem.
And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and
they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be
mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”
And so when they were about to enter
the city Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village in
front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her.
Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say,
‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” Our Lord specifically had them get a donkey
for him to ride in upon.
This was very intentional. This was an animal that had messianic
associations. It was the kind of animal
that the king descended from David – the Messiah – rode. And indeed Matthew tells us that this took
place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Zechariah about the Messiah. In a way that went beyond what the crowed
understood, their words were exactly correct as they cried out: “Hosanna to the
Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the
highest!”
Of course, in our Old Testament
lesson, Zechariah goes on to say, “I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and
the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off,
and he shall speak
peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to
the ends of the earth.” In our text the
arrival of the Davidic Messiah is accompanied by God’s action to remove the
implements of war and bring peace. And we learn that this Messiah rules as king
from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.
However, that’s not what happens in
the Passion of Our Lord. Instead Jesus
is arrested. He is handed over to the
power of the Roman Empire at whose hands he is tortured, and mocked and
crucified. Jesus doesn’t rule as
king. Instead he is enthroned on a cross
with the sign over his head, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” As I described in this month’s newsletter, the
suffering, crucifixion and death of Jesus would have proved conclusively to
first century Jews that Jesus was not the Messiah.
Jesus was on the cross because the
Messiah was more than the Jews expected, by appearing to be less. He was not only the mighty conquering
king. He was also the suffering Servant. And he was sent by God not simply for the
sake of Israel. He was sent also for
you. He was sent because you don’t fear,
love and trust in God above all things.
He was sent because you get angry with others and have hate in your
heart. He was sent because as Jesus
said, out of your heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual
immorality, theft, false witness, and slander.
Jesus had said, “The Son of Man came
not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for
many.” Anointed by the Spirit at his
baptism in the Jordan, Jesus went forth as the Messiah who was also the Servant
sent to bear your sins. By his death he
won forgiveness for you. He has removed
the sin that incurred God’s wrath by receiving that wrath in your place. And because he has done this for you, through
baptism and faith you are now righteous in God’s eyes – you are forgiven.
In our Old Testament lesson,
Zechariah describes the Messiah as the One who rules everything. We don’t see that in the Passion of Our
Lord. And of course, we know that this
is not the whole story. Our reading of
the Passion ended with Jesus dead and buried in a tomb. He didn’t stay there. On the third day he rose from the dead.
Yet that is the message for the
morning of the first day of the week … next week. Today we behold the crucified Christ as we
enter into Holy Week. Jesus is the
Christ – the Messiah descended from David.
He fulfills all that the Law and the Prophets have said. And because that is true, on Friday he will
die on the cross. And on Saturday he
will lie in a grave.
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