A day of humility, comfort, and joy

Sermon for Palm Sunday

Philippians 2:5-11  +  Matthew 21:1-9

Whether you’re thinking about the Passion History that you just heard from Matthew, or about the Epistle reading from Philippians 2, or about the Palm Sunday Gospel you heard at the very beginning of the service, the humility of Jesus shines through like a bright light. His Holy Week humility was the culmination of what our catechism students have recently learned as Jesus’ state of humiliation. We “watched together” this morning as Jesus lowered Himself further, and further, and further from where He began, which was in glory at the Father’s side as He was “in the form of God,” Paul writes. He was God by His very nature. He was equal with God, and yet His mind wasn’t on grasping and enjoying His highness. It was on emptying Himself, on lowering Himself. And He did lower Himself, not by simply becoming a man, but by taking on the form of man as servant, of man in the condition in which sin has left us: debilitated, needy, afflicted, susceptible to pain and anguish, subject to God’s Law, vulnerable, and even mortal. His Holy Week humility began with the intentional choice of two donkeys to carry Him into Jerusalem, accompanied, not by a conquering army, but by average Israelites, even children. His mind was not on seeking His own glory, but the good of those who were already His people, and the good of those who might yet become His people when they saw how He willingly humbled Himself and made Himself obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

So, as Paul wrote in the Epistle, there’s no room at all for pride among God’s saints, either. No room for looking out for yourself first, or trying to make yourself look good. Today is a day of humility, to watch in awe as Jesus rides humbly into Jerusalem, and to be of the same mind.

Today is also a day of comfort, not a time for fear. We had every reason to fear the wrath of God, the anger of God, the temporal and eternal punishments God sends into the world, because we were and, in a sense, remain sinners like the rest of the world. And those who refuse to acknowledge and repent of their sins still have reason to fear. But today we’re all being called by God to look up from our fear, to look at Jesus, riding into Jerusalem, not to condemn the world, but that the world, through Him, might be saved. It’s a day of comfort, as we ponder God’s zeal—that’s the only word that really describes it—God’s zeal to save sinners, His zeal to make atonement for their sins through the death of His beloved Son, and to call sinners to faith in Christ Jesus by holding His humility and love before our eyes. Today is a day of comfort, when all are invited to become part of Jerusalem, not the city, but the people, the holy Christian Church of God, to become part of it, and to remain part of it, God’s precious people who have God’s love, God’s forgiveness, and God’s promise to get us through the worst of times on this earth, so that we may finish this life in faith and then await the resurrection from the dead.

Today is also a day of joy. Zechariah’s prophecy begins, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Your King comes to you! The prophet was talking about that day, still 500 some years in the future, from his vantage point, when the Christ would ride into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. He really came. He really showed up as King to conquer the devil and to rescue sinners from the devil’s kingdom. And He is still here today, in a special way, where two or three are gathered in His name, and in another special way, where His body and blood are joined to bread and wine. Today is a day of joy, because Zechariah tells us that your King is righteous and having salvation. And that salvation is from everything—everything in its time, and in God’s perfect way. Salvation from sin. Salvation from the devil. Salvation from eternal death in hell. Salvation from earthly enemies, whether viruses, or tyrannical governments, or violent neighbors, or loneliness. Salvation that doesn’t mean we are no longer troubled by these things, but salvation in that they cannot snatch us out of God’s hand or threaten the joy we have in Christ’s victory for us. All our enemies must serve His good purposes for His people, and we must stand victorious in the end. And so today is a day of joy, to rejoice in the presence of your King and to know that He hears your Hosanna’s and is pleased with them, pleased to have every one of you here as His own, precious, blood-bought people, celebrating this day of humility, this day of comfort, this day of joy. Amen.