Sermon - Palmarum 2022 - Matthew 26:1-27:66

Entry of Christ into Jerusalem, Pietro Lorenzetti, 1320

Palm Sunday is a profoundly beautiful day in the life of the church, it’s also a very strange day, confusing to many people. Is it a day of jubilation to celebrate that Jesus is our King, or a day to remember the passion of our Lord? The answer is yes, it’s both! Jesus is the King who comes to save us. Our confusion lies in trying to reconcile both accounts. We have a grand procession and yet the cross is veiled in black. We sing All Glory Laud and Honor and we sing A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining Forth. 

Our confusion is nothing new. The Jews in Jesus’ day were confused as well. Some of Jerusalem greeted Jesus like a king, laying down not just cheap palm branches, but laying down their cloaks on the filthy road for a donkey to walk on. Our clothes are cheap today, so we hardly notice this detail, but they were expensive treasures in Jesus’ day. Later that same week some of Jerusalem demanded that Jesus be executed, shouting out: “Let Him be crucified!” Obviously the Jews in Jerusalem were a bit confused about what to do with Jesus.

Pilate was even confused and had to ask Jesus: “Are you the King of the Jews?” It didn’t make sense, why would the king’s subjects want to have their king crucified? What sort of king would willingly go to be crucified? It’s so strange!

Their confusion rested in what kind of king they expected Jesus to be. They were expecting an earthly king who would overthrow the government. They wanted an insurrectionist! The political climate in ancient Palestine was complicated, just like it is everywhere always. Palestine was under Roman jurisdiction, some of the Jews were fine with that, but many of them were not. There were regular uprisings and insurrections, violent attempts to overthrow Roman control of Palestine. Many of the Jews were hoping this was the kind of king Jesus was going to be.

For that reason it’s actually unsurprising that the Jews prefer to release a known insurrectionist and crucify Jesus instead. “They had then a notorious prisoner called Barabbas.” Instead of the Jesus of peace who rides on donkeys, they wanted the Jesus of violence and action who might actually lead the Jews to freedom from Rome. And there’s an interesting point, according to tradition Barabbas’ first name was Jesus (Jesus was a very popular name in those days). Barabbas, bar abba, means son of the father. So the people chose one Jesus, son of the father, instead of the Jesus, the Son of the Father. They chose the Jesus who would be an earthly king.

How often do we make the same mistake? We think Jesus came to save our constitutional democratic-republican form of government, our present social order, our western civilization, but He didn’t! Jesus didn’t just come to ride in parades and set up a new earthly kingdom, He came to be crucified and die for the sins of His people! Jesus came to save sinful man! The triumphal entry into Jerusalem makes no sense unless it is seen within the context of Jesus’ passion. Jesus came to save sinful man not to save worldly institutions. 

Of course it would be great if Western Civilization would be saved! It would be wonderful if there were no slums or war! It would be fantastic if our churches and nation would be revived! But the only way you save those things is by saving man. Get man right, and you get government and civilization right. There’s no slick method of making everything right in the world apart from the salvific work of Jesus on the cross. If we want to save Western Civilization, our nation, our congregations, and our towns, it starts with Christ our King who enters into our hearts.

Just as Jesus entered Jerusalem, so does Jesus make the triumphal entry into our heart. He entered Jerusalem and first cleansed the temple, so He enters into the temple of our heart and cleanses us from all sin by His precious death and burial. Jesus didn’t come just to save this world and our precious kingdoms, but He came to save us. Jesus is indeed our King who comes to save us.