4.2.23 Zechariah 9:9–10
9 Rejoice greatly, Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! Look! Your King is coming to you. He is righteous and brings salvation. He is humble and is riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem. The battle bow will be taken away, and he will proclaim peace to the nations. His kingdom will extend from sea to sea, from the River to the ends of the earth.
Ride on to Die, So We Can Live in Peace
When was the last time you actually shouted in joy? November 26th, 2022? (Michigan over Ohio State football.) Yes, if anything, usually, it is sports. When Rylee made it to the State Finals I caught myself yelling in jubilation when the final seconds ticked off the clock. “Yes! Yes!” On Palm Sunday we see a similar jubilation over Jesus coming to town. The people of Jerusalem were just ecstatic. They were taking off their outer garments and throwing them on the road for Jesus. They were breaking off branches and cheering Him on. It’s kind of a rare thing to see people get that excited over something or someone. If you’ve been a part of a celebration like that you never forget it.
Looking back on Palm Sunday and trying to figure out the source of their joy, it isn’t hard to find when you listen to what they were saying.
Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest!
This was a quote of Psalm 118 where it also speaks of the “stone that the builders rejected” becoming the cornerstone. We typically sing this on Easter. Hosanna means to “save now.” By calling Jesus the “Son of David” it was clearly a Messianic term. God had prophesied that the future King would be born in Bethlehem and rule forever, having descended from David. (Micah 5:2 and 2 Samuel 7:13) The people knew this. So they praised Jesus as the Son of David. They wanted Him to be the One. They also praised God above - Hosanna in the highest - insinuating that God Himself sent Jesus to save them. It’s a great song to sing!
What did they want salvation from? The Jews of Jesus’ day would have had all kinds of problems.
They had problems with Roman society, which was so very immoral with sexuality of every kind.
They had a problem with the Roman government, which was ruling over them harshly and not allowing them to make their sacrifices or practice their religion freely. History has shown Pilate to be a real butcher, so much so that the Roman government wanted to remove him even prior to Jesus’ crucifixion.
The Jews had a problem with their spiritual rulers who were murderers and adulterers in the line of Herod. The more serious leaders tended to be elitist and unloving legalists who were constantly fighting with each other for power and control.
Then you think of how everyone in that time was so easily oppressed by sickness and disease. They had no cure for leprosy, which was a contagious and deadly disease. Over 45% of children died before they turned 15 and over 25% of infants died before they turned one year old! (https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality-in-the-past) They didn’t have modern hospitals and nurses.
On top of all that, they had demon possessed people running around on a regular basis!
There’s no way we can fathom the problems that the Jewish people would have had to face living at that time.
So what did they mean when they said “Hosanna?” Each one probably had their own reason for crying it. But Jesus had provided hope in so many directions. He had chased out the demons. He stood up to the religious authorities and reached out to the weak and the rejected. He healed sicknesses and raised the dead. He spoke of forgiveness and mercy. He showed compassion to people. Many of these people had probably had personal interactions with Jesus or would have known someone who was healed or touched by Him. It was a natural cry for help. They were desperately hopeful that Jesus could do something for them, so they cried out to Him with their voices, their coats, and palm branches.
Are you desperate for a Savior, for peace? As we walk into Holy Week it seems all the more hopeless on the political side to have any sense of peace. Russia has just arrested an American news reporter. China is aligning with Russia and threatening to take Taiwan. Drugs are pouring into our borders and Bay City basically smells like a skunk. Former President Trump is now being indicted on criminal charges. Much of American Christianity has laid over for the LBGT agenda and many in our government are still openly pushing for gender change and abortion. Three nine year old children and three adults were slaughtered by a transgender person at a Christian school. Pornography is infecting so many of our children’s brains. Cancer and sickness is still wreaking havoc on thousands of people. Families are falling apart. And if you don’t think the devil is behind this, you’re sadly mistaken.
So you’ve got the left telling us we can save the world with electric cars and tolerance. Live and let live, and everything will be ok. You’ve got the right doing all they can to stop the trans agenda of having children mutilate their bodies and men exposing themselves in women’s bathrooms. God bless them for trying! You’ve got some telling us to back Ukraine and others saying to get out. You’re being told to buy gold and stock up on water and dried goods. You’re being offered marijuana and drugs and video games to live in another realm, to escape into entertainment.
And how are you doing through all of this? Maybe you’re just trying to stick your head in the sand and ignore it all. Maybe you’re filled with anger and you’re posting stuff left and right. But nobody’s really listening and nothing’s changing. Alcohol isn’t going to make it any better. Fear isn’t going to fix it. Politicians certainly won’t. Pay off your house. Go debt free. You’ll still have issues. The truth is nobody can fix the human heart, so it’s going to keep getting worse and worse. Jesus predicted it would just get worse, and He wasn’t lying.
What can you do? Cry “Hosanna.” Don’t just mouth it. Don’t just recite it. Sing it! Cry it from the depth of your soul! We need a miracle from God Himself!
Palm Sunday is the answer to the cry. It doesn’t look like it. This mild mannered guy comes riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. He is righteous and brings salvation. What kind of a vision do you get with a “righteous” person? A Prince Charming type? Lord Farquaad? We don’t tend to like the righteous ones. The ones at work who do everything by the book, who are nice to management, who show up on time with a smile on their face. The ones who participate in class and know the answers, who do their homework and thrive at sports. We judge them as apple polishers. They make us look bad. They have their lives all polished and in order. They irritate us to a point. They seem fake. But Jesus was the real deal, and He wasn’t snarky or pompous about it. He wasn’t “I’m better than you.”
The picture of it all is the donkey. What’s up with that? What you drive says something about you. We used to have a Nissan Maxima. It was kind of a hot rod looking car. It had some serious power with all the bells and whistles. We bought it on sale from Facebook, but I never felt quite right in that car. It was too fancy. It had too many bells and whistles. My son just bought a 1993 Toyota Camry. It’s practically an antique. It’s a bread and butter type of car. I love it. I’m proud of him for wanting something basic. It’s how I ride. Maybe you like the bling, the fancier car. I just think if I had that type of car it would own me. I wouldn’t own it. I’d worry about crashing it. I don’t like car payments either. I’m kind of frugal that way. Well, that’s not really the point of the donkey. Jesus just borrows it for a day. But a donkey is definitely nothing flashy. You don’t ride donkeys into war. They are slow beasts of burden, kind of goofy looking with big ears, bred to carry weight. Slow and steady wins the race. Yes, Jesus came to bear our burden of sin by doing nothing flashy and glamorous. He came to die on a cross. He came in humility. He came to do the gritty and dirty thing of dying on the cross, and the donkey personifies humility.
There’s something beautiful about that. You see the kid at basketball or football camp who has all the latest gear. His parents have bought him all the bling. But you soon find out it’s all bling. He’s nothing but a pretender. Jesus isn’t pretending to be anything. He doesn’t need a fancy horse to be who He is or do what He does. He doesn’t need a fancy ride to impress anyone. He knows who He is. He knows what He has come to do. He may look unimpressive, but wait and see.
Satan rolls up his sleeves. He tries to find a crack in the armor. Turn stones into bread. Worship me. Jesus stands firm. He’s tougher than He looks. Peter denies Him. Judas betrays Him. People mock Him. And He does nothing in return. This is going to be easy! Crucify Him! Crucify Him!
Jesus’ weapons have nothing to do with the donkey. He’s not going to use any weapons at all! He’s going to let the devil and humanity come down on Him. He’s going to let hell come down on Him, God’s own wrath! Jesus goes into war with less than David, without even a sling or a stone. He’s just going to use His body to conquer sin and death and hell. He’s going to face God’s wrath with nothing but a prayer and faith that it’s all going to pay the price. He’s not even going to have the Father in the end. No angels. No miracles. Just weakness and death. That’s it. And like in a title fight, when all of God’s wrath has come down on Him and He dies a miserable death, there’s nothing left to do. God’s wrath is spent. Satan has landed his final blow. Jesus has taken the blame for the sins of the world. He has died the most miserable and painful death! He has been put through hell. But what is this?!? Jesus lives!
And isn’t that the irony of it all? When demons inhabited a man’s body he tore apart chains and ran wild in the wilderness. They refused to be chained and tamed. When Jesus took on flesh He allowed humanity to punch Him, kick Him, spit on Him, and nail Him to a cross. And He didn’t do anything but suffer and die. But through that weakness and death, with that weak and powerless and shameful death, He conquered it all, for everyone, for you and for me.
Jesus’ Triumphal Entry has lasting consequences for today, tomorrow and eternity. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem. The battle bow will be taken away, and he will proclaim peace to the nations. His kingdom will extend from sea to sea, from the River to the ends of the earth. This peace will not come to visible and ultimate fruition until Judgment Day. It’s not going to come from the Republicans or Democrats, the Russians, the Chinese, Israel or America. It’s only going to come ultimately when Jesus comes on the clouds.
But the God on the donkey still rules with His seemingly weak weapons even today. Think of the peace of knowing you are baptized. Who would think that a little bit of water with a promise could work such miracles? But in your baptism you know your sins were washed away. You know that God’s name was placed on you and you were bound to Jesus. You are God’s created and forgiven child. You don’t have to identify as anything else than who you are and how God made you. You have IDENTITY! When you come to the Lord’s Supper and you receive the body and blood of the Lord, here the same Jesus comes riding into your soul, washing your sins away again and again. You don’t need to turn to a drug to escape this world. Jesus is your drug. The Word of God enables you to escape this world every week. You don’t have to go into surgery fearing for your life. You have God’s angels protecting you. You have salvation waiting for you. You don’t have to fear your future. God can work anything out for your good. Peace is there, in the heart, through the Word and sacrament. It all comes from this Guy on the donkey, who rides into Jerusalem to wage war on the enemies of life, conquering Satan through water, bread, wine and Word.
Today is Palm Sunday. It’s a day to open your lips and sing Hosanna to the LORD. Have you opened your mouth to sing? If you sit here and have nothing to say, nothing to sing, then you need a wakeup call! Listen to the voice of Zechariah once again. Rejoice greatly, Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! Look! Your King is coming to you. Open your eyes! See the God Man on the Donkey. He has come to answer the prayer, “Hosanna.” He is the answer. So this Sunday, reliving the morning of Palm Sunday, we sing along. Ride on, ride on, in majesty. In lowly pomp ride on to die, so that we can live in peace! Amen.
