Palm Sunday 2024 (2)

Text: “13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”” (John 12:13)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ: Rejoice. Your prayer has been answered.

Which prayer, you ask?

The same one that the crows prayed to Jesus as He entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday: “Hosanna!” It may not look like a prayer, Not all prayers come with our eyes closed and our heads bowed and our hands folded. On that day, their hands were waving palm branches. Their heads were not bowed, their eyes were not closed. Their heads were up and they were looking at the One whom they— and you— are praying to. It didn’t look like a prayer, but it was.

It didn’t sound like a prayer, either, but it was. In fact, this is a really good prayer because they are praying Scripture. A few minutes ago, we read Psalm 118 responsively. The crowds that day were praying “25 Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success! 26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord” (Psalm 118:25–26). Any time we pray God’s Words back to Him that is a very good prayer.

It did not look to us like a prayer; it does not sound like a prayer; but it was. And yes, your sneaky pastors have put that prayer in your mouth, too.

Did you happen to notice that? Our liturgy— the words that you and I speak and sing back and forth to one another and to God— our liturgy is pieced together almost entirely with the words of Scripture. And what makes it particularly beautiful is that you and I get to use the words of our Fathers and Mothers in the faith— to say the same things that they said.

Today, we have technology that can take recordings of people’s words and splice them together to make them say things that they did not ever actually say. In fact, computer programs can now take just the syllables from words to make you say entire words that you never said. But that’s not at all what we do with the words of Scripture that we include in the liturgy.

When you sing the words of Simeon— your father in the faith— “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to your word…” it is because He sung those words as he held his Savior— the baby Jesus— in his hands that day in the temple. You sing them right after communion, having held the body and blood of your Savior in your hands, as well.

When you sing the words of Mary— your mother in the faith— “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior…” it is because she sang those words in response to the angel’s message that the Savior was coming into the world through her. You sing them in one of our liturgies right after the sermon in response to a different messenger’s message that your Savior has come to you, as well.

When you are given these words to sing— “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord…”— it is because the crowds that day cried out with those words to welcome the very Savior who had come to save them. You sing them for a very similar reason: to welcome the Savior who comes to you with salvation, as well.

The crowds that day were gathered in Jerusalem out of religious obligation. They were there to celebrate one of the festivals that God had commanded them to observe. They brought with them a litany of troubles, a litany of fears, a litany of sins and failures. And the prayed words that they probably did not understand— that would be fulfilled in a way that they most certainly did not understand. The king— the Son of David— that they were welcoming that day was not coming to conquer, but to suffer. Even His disciples did not understand what they were seeing until after He had been crucified, died, and rose again. But their prayer was answered.

As is yours. I know, you are probably here because you have to be. God said to be here. You come with a litany of troubles, a litany of fears, a litany of sins and failures. And you’re just singing the words that have been written down for you and set to music in our hymnal. How well do you really understand them? They won’t look like what you usually think of as a prayer, they won’t sound like what you usually think of as a prayer, but your prayer is answered. It is answered in a way that passes all understanding, but your prayer is answered. Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold your king is coming— in, with, and under bread and wine. He is coming to give you His very body and blood to eat and to drink— the same body and blood that were given and shed for you on the cross— and, in the process, He gives you the salvation that He earned on the cross.

You come to this communion rail troubled by the world around you and receive the body and blood that were given and shed to overcome this world and to gather you out of it. You come to this communion rail rightly afraid of the devil, who prowls like a roaring lion and you receive the body and blood that were given and shed to defeat him. You come to this communion rail carrying a burden of sins and you find not only grace and forgiveness, but the strength to live a new life.

Rejoice. Your prayer is answered.