Save us, Lord!

Context

Palm Sunday the beginning of Holy Week. Jesus’ last week.

We have already read the story of his arrival into Jerusalem, amid great fanfare. Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!

Our second reading comes from the Psalms - the prayer book of the Bible.

Psalm 118, a psalm of victory. Imagine a king, initially doubted by his people, hard pressed in battle, yet saved by God. Now returning in victory and ready to worship and give thanks to God for the victory.

Christians came to view this psalm as prophetic of Jesus.

Text

Psalm 118:1–2 NRSV

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever! Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”

Psalm 118:19–29 NRSV

Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it. I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Save us, we beseech you, O Lord! O Lord, we beseech you, give us success! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. We bless you from the house of the Lord. The Lord is God, and he has given us light. Bind the festal procession with branches, up to the horns of the altar. You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God, I will extol you. O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.

Introduction

Today is a happy day of welcome!

We join with crowd of Jerusalem to hail Jesus as the Messiah arriving into his city.

Yet we see also the cross here. (Positioned on the chancel)

Somehow the joy of today will turn into the agony of the passion and Jesus will be dead by Friday.

Today is a paradoxical day.

Joy that Jesus is the Lord who comes. Fear that Jesus is the Lord who comes…for something seems to go dreadfully wrong.

Exegesis - His arrival provokes fear of what he will take away.

In Jesus’ day there were was great hope that the Messiah would soon appear.

able to lead the Jewish nation into military victories, even again larger opponents, like Rome.

Able to unite people in true worship of God…especially at the Temple.

They were on the lookout for signs of his arrival.

Signs were pointing to Jesus.

He healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, made the lame walk, miraculously fed the crowds in the wilderness, even raised people from the dead.

The ancient Scriptures said that Messiah would arrive into Jerusalem, riding on a colt.

Zechariah 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! …Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

On Palm Sunday, Jesus did exactly this.

Like a king, he commandeered a colt to ride.

His disciples placed him on it ceremoniously.

He rode into town.

The crowds put two and two together and exulted!

The crowds celebrated him, waving palm branches and laying their clothes in the path, as they would a king!

In short, when Jesus arrived as Messiah it was dramatic and clear.

The religious leaders, like the people, longed for God’s chosen one to appear.

But when the moment arrived, it proved too scary.

Rome was a ruthless overlord, and suppressed insurrection with swift and terrible violence.

They became afraid that Jesus theatrical ride and the rousing of the crowd, would attract the attention of the Romans and that soldiers would come in and crush them all, and dismantle the already fragile lifestyle the Jews had.

They just couldn’t imagine this son of a carpenter, this man from Galilee, this friend of sinners, wonder worker though he may be, was a viable candidate to hold all their hopes and dreams.

So, when Jesus rode into Jerusalem like a king and the people sang out:

The leaders said, order your disciples to stop!

Jesus only reply: It is inevitable. If these people were silent, the stones would shout out. That is; even nature would raise up its voice in welcome.

Jesus was clear: He was the expected Messiah.

In that moment decision, the religious leaders had everything to gain by welcoming the Lord, but they thought of all they stood to lose, and so they rejected Jesus.. They determined to put the Lord to death.

Current Problem - can be afraid of what the Lord may take away

We must be careful not to hastily condemn the religious leaders of Jesus day for their actions, as if we would not have done the same thing.

We have our life arranged a certain way.

status quo with world around us, with our key relationships, even with what we expect and don’t expect from God.

Life seems fragile, like it could fall apart at any moment.

Our greatest fear is that someone or something will ruin it all.

Then Jesus rides up to the gates of our hearts.

He is not riding into Ormond Beach or Washington DC …

he comes to us.

When he comes…he comes as Lord.

Jesus comes and says, I am the One. I am the Lord. I am arriving to your city — your life.

The thing we need most is a Savior and Lord.

We have everything to gain,…but we become afraid of what we will lose.

What will he take from us? or demand that we give up?

Will others not like us? Or ridicule us?

Will we lose money or position or security or the delicate balance we have in life?

What if he turns our life upside down?

The prospect of welcoming Jesus as Lord can provoke fear in us.

HINGE - Jesus not coming to take

God knows this about us.

We are afraid of what we really need. Afraid of the Savior and Lord.

That is why Jesus comes ready to be rejected. That is part of his plan for us.

Ancient Solution - Jesus gives them his life

Jesus rode into Jerusalem knowing that he would be rejected.

The leaders of the day understood the Messiah to be a figure of power, and they feared that.

Jesus understood the hidden messages in the Scripture that the Messiah had to first be a figure of rejection and suffering …

Psalm 118:22 “The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.”

The rejected one would be the foundation of God’s plan.

Psalm 118:27 “…Bind the festal procession/sacrifice with branches, up to the horns of the altar.”

Jesus would offer himself as a sacrifice for sin.

His divine blood would be shed for the forgiveness of all sins.

Even to forgive the sin of rejecting the Messiah.

God knows and Jesus knows what his people needed— not a king on political throne; not a high priest in the stone temple. They did not need a Lord who would take over.

They needed a Lord who would give himself over to them and give himself for them.

By allowing himself to be rejected, he would show the sinfulness of their hearts.

By allowing himself to be rejected, he would show God’s ability to forgive sin.

By allowing himself to be rejected, he would endure even death, so that he could rise on the 3rd day

By allowing himself to be rejected, he gives access to God’s kingdom.

And so he did.

Jesus was rejected.

He was put to death.

He was raised from the dead.

All of this he did, so that their Messiah’s true power could be shown. A power to break the power of sin and death. To swallow it up with righteousness and life. Power to overcome rejection with God’s redemption.

He was willing to be rejected when he entered Jerusalem, so that he could give to everyone his kingdom.

Jesus did not come to take…but to give…to give himself.

Current Solution - He gives his life to us

So, we need not fear to let Jesus into our hearts.

He does not come to take over or to be harsh or to damage us.

He comes to give himself to us.

He wants to give his life to us right now.

As we enter into holy week we journey with Jesus toward his cross to see how true that it is.

We may want to skip it. A celebration today and happy Easter next Sunday. But if we skip over these days, we skip over just how much Jesus loves us.

He knows that there are parts of our lives that are messy. Ready for that.

That are hostile. Ready for that.

He knows there are parts of our life that we reject him from. he is ready for that.

He is ready and patient and long suffering.

He knows our sins cause us to suffer. He will suffer with us.

Eventually, we will discover the power of his love for us.

Ultimately, he has robbed our sins of their power. He took them long ago and put them on himself and put them on the cross. Buried them.

Now he offers us new life.

He wants to come into our lives. He wants to invite us into his life.

Psalm 118:17 “I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord.”

There is only one entrance into that city. Jesus is the gate.

Psalm 118:20 “This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it.”

Conclusion

A paradoxical day.

A day of joyous welcome.

A day of reckoning with our fear.

A day to celebrate that Jesus is ready for it all, for our sake.

Psalm 118:24 “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”