Palm Sunday - Hail, Hosanna, Savior King!! (March 28, 2010)
By Rev. Steve Bagnall

What a great commotion was stirred when Jesus entered Jerusalem. There were crowds of people around to greet Him. And why not? Imagine yourself in Jerusalem that day. Whether you are a local or one of the thousands in town for the Passover, your excitement level is already about 9 out of 10.

And then you hear that Jesus is coming. Now, some people are saying that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah, the Son whom God promised to David, the one who would sit on Israel’s throne forever. There are also rumors that He works miracles, healing the sick, and like that. Who wouldn’t want to see this guy?

And then He comes in riding on a donkey! We all remember the prophecy in Zechariah: “Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.” This guy really does want us to think He’s the Promised One. And the people with Him are chanting that part of Psalm 118, the one about the LORD’s Savior:

Hosanna, O LORD!
O LORD, we pray, give us success!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!
We bless you from the house of the LORD.

If your were in Jerusalem that day you would probably have found a spot along the parade route and watched the show, too. But not everyone saw this as an entertainment. Some people realized that this wasn’t a parade; it was a march like the ones we often see in Washington D.C. The enemies of Jesus understood very well, and they didn’t like it one bit. They were upset that people were calling Jesus Messiah. They stood and watched in anger.

The third group of people is a little different from the others. These folks aren’t watching a parade or a march – they’re not watching at all. These people are part of the movement. They’re the ones who believe, the ones who’ve become convinced that Jesus is the Savior. They started the chanting, they created a red-carpet welcome with their own cloaks on the road under Jesus’ donkeys feet, they cut the palm branches signifying victory and wave them in joy.

Some may have come all the way from Bethany with Jesus, but many others have joined on the way. They don’t just watch and let the train of Christ pass by. They are caught up, caught up by the power of the Holy Spirit. They are swept along by their faith, joined onto that moving crowd of believers, disciples, students who follow the Master Jesus. They have been made part of this flock who follow the Good Shepherd.

Some of us may be here today as observers only, brought by parents or someone else, but not interested at all. Others may even be against the message of grace and forgiveness Jesus brings. But most of us are the followers, the Church that’s gathered around the Savior. We want to see Him, hear His voice. We want to feel His touch of comfort + upon our heads. This is a great day of triumph for us, and we wave the palm branches of our own victory, the victory Christ has come to win for us.

But, that’s just it; here’s the hard part. Palm Sunday is not the end of the journey for Jesus, and it isn’t for us, either. As followers of Christ we can’t just sit on the sidelines and watch Him suffer and die and rise again, like spectators at a play. The Church walks with Jesus, the flock must follow the Shepherd.

Like the people of Palm Sunday we are drawn away from the sidelines and made part of the march as we recognize our sin. Here, before our eyes, is the all-powerful Creator, the Son of God, the Holy Prince of Peace. We long to be with Him, close by, but how dare we even try? He’s holy and we’re sinners. How often have you done wrong, knowing it was wrong, but doing it anyway? How many times do unclean words pass your lips, unclean thoughts rest in your mind, unclean acts soil your body. Unclean and unworthy we duck our heads when Jesus looks our way, hoping that He won’t see our sin, hoping to slip into heaven anyway. But He sees you, and He calls to you. “You there, sinner. I know your heart; I know how far you stray from my ways, and how often. Come to Me. I die for you, in your place. I forgive you. Follow Me, close by My side, so that I may protect and help you. “

And so, forgiven by Jesus, we rise and begin the Palm Sunday march. But remember, this march leads to Calvary, the hill where Jesus will die. He hasn’t come here to be praised and go home. He comes to face your sin and mine, to endure the degrading reality of what our selfish hearts deserve. He comes to fight our old sinful natures and to die in our place. He comes so that He can endure the cross for you and me; so that He can die for us, and rise to new life, eternal life – to open heaven for us.

And we follow in His train. Where He goes, we go, so to the cross it is. Our sins are forgiven, but our temptations and troubles remain. All kinds of sinners are part of Jesus’ Church, all kinds of brokenhearted people. Some among us are filled with rage, lashing out in stressful times; others fight addictions, never free from the deep ache for whatever our drug of choice may be. Some feel the sorrow of children separated from the Church, and maybe separated from Jesus. Some in the Church are homosexuals, others whose desires are more conventional, all failing to eliminate their sinful thoughts and desires, all saddened and ashamed of their failures.

There are a million different needs, but we are, all of us, the same. Each day we try; we fight the sin, we fight the part of us that wants to sin. And too often we fall, right back to our knees again, failed, broken and stained. But every time, our Lord stands beside us. He doesn’t leave us behind. He stops, He bends down and He touches us, “My son, My daughter, take heart, I forgive you.” And He lifts us, and sets us on our feet, still part of His procession, that leads through this cross, even through death, the path that leads to eternal life.

We walk with Christ in our Holy Week services; on Thursday for His betrayal, on Friday for His death, on Saturday to prepare for His Resurrection and on Easter to see His glory alive again.

Lift your heart to greet the king:

Hail, Hosanna, Savior King. By Your call and by Your power I follow. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Amen