Sunday of Passion (Palm Sunday) – April 5, 2020 | Matthew 21.1-11 | Carl A. Voges |

“He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross.”                                                                                                                   [Philippians 2.8]

 

In the Name of Christ + Jesus our Lord

 

It is startling / shuddering to be surrounded by events tumbling out of coronavirus

 

World’s people are scrambling to get on top of this infection even as its descent into our lives scrambles ministry of Lord’s parishes

 

Even though these parishes can adapt to useful technological tools to maintain their connections with members / friends, such connections cannot fully immerse us in Life pouring out from Lord’s Scriptures / Sacraments

 

Consequently, such parishes are discussing ways in which such immersion may occur so Lord’s people are not left alone / can be exposed to his overwhelming salvation / strength

 

In these holy ways Lord’s Life can spill out from our own so it can plunge into illnesses that are flooding everyone with fear and panic

 

This morning, thankfully, we are drawn into Lord’s rock-solid Life through today’s Processional Gospel from Matthew 21

 

In many, if not all, parishes Lord’s baptized people cannot receive palm branches associated with this day, grasp them / carry them home to go behind Son’s cross / pictures

 

We trust, though, that faithfulness / creativity of these parishes will be exercised so  Day’s significance can still be carried out

 

These palm branches mark arrival of Messiah (Anointed One) in Jerusalem on Sunday we now call Passion (it used to be called Palm)

 

Arrival of Anointed One is not just confined to this Day, it will also spread throughout days of this week

 

This coming Thursday, one called Maundy (after Latin word for “commandment”), will reveal Supper of Anointed One

 

This coming Friday, one called Good (because it belongs to Lord God), will reveal death of Anointed One

 

This coming Saturday, one called Holy (because it also belongs to Lord God), will reveal resurrection of Anointed One

 

/ next Sunday, one called Easter Day, will unleash resurrection of Anointed One!

For people immersed in Life of Father, Son / Holy Spirit, this week is greatest one of year!

 

Week causes us to understand why we worship Lord God, why we confront sin in our lives, why we notice trapped life of world

 

Imbedded in Life of Holy Trinity, we have been given peace that is beyond our experience, imagination / emotion; we have been given redemption that is not triggered by our actions; we have been drawn into Life that comes from / runs on into eternity

 

Through all of Holy Week, Anointed One pushes into presence of unholy trio – sin, Satan, death – dismantling each of them, permanently!

 

It is true that world is not that aware of this week’s significance, it is frantically dealing with emergence of coronavirus!

 

But baptized people of Lord God, ones living in frantic world, press through that to let their lives be restored in crucified / resurrected Life of Anointed One

 

So today marks arrival of Anointed One in Jerusalem

 

Our Lord’s ministry is coming to thunderous conclusion, one that is sketched out in today’s Processional Gospel

 

There are five things to notice in it:

 

First, there is matter of Jesus riding on donkey

 

Background for this is detailed in ninth chapter of Zechariah, one of OT minor prophets, )

 

In OT times, donkey was mount of Israel’s humble rulers

 

Horse had become symbol of arrogant, war-like / aggressive kings

 

Zechariah proclaimed that Messiah, Anointed One, would arrive riding on donkey / ridding country of horses

 

Note that horses represented pride in self / driving for self – two realities that still hound us today!

 

Second, there is crowd

 

Jesus’ ministry had been impacting people for three years so he was well-known / was attracting people

 

But there were also pilgrims in Jerusalem from around world for Passover

 

This was annual observance of Exodus from Egypt; it swelled city’s normal population of 20-25,000 to 100,000

 

Third, there are shouts from crowd

Hebrew world, “hosanna,” literally means, “O save!”

 

People are crying for rescue

 

We echo that cry every Sunday as we sing Great Thanksgiving before Lord’s Supper (notice that cry reaches deeply into universe with phrase, “Hosanna in highest”)

 

Fourth, there is Greek word that Matthew uses to describe city’s turmoil because of Jesus’ arrival

 

This is same word that Matthew uses for earthquake at Jesus’ death / for shaken guards at his tomb

 

Fifth, there is crowd telling one another that One arriving is prophet, Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee

 

This exposes that they don’t really see / understand who Jesus is as Anointed One

 

They recognize prophet, but they don’t recognize Son of Man (Son of God) pushing into world to rescue its people

 

This lack of seeing / understanding is really exposed on following Friday when large crowd of today dwindles to handful of people (such dwindling is also mirrored in liturgies that parishes schedule for that day)

 

Anointed One is arriving in Jerusalem!

 

We not only remember arrival, we also see its growing impact on our lives today

 

Remembering is stirred with us grasping these palm branches / taking them home to be placed behind wall crosses or pictures of our Lord

 

Arrival’s impact grows as we see our Lord dismantling unholy trio of sin, Satan / death when he crosses our lives with his Scriptures / Sacraments

 

Yes, we are nervously / painfully aware of virus sweeping through entire world, but we are also aware of necessity / vitality of Lord’s Scriptures / Sacraments as they expose real saving, real redeeming / real rescuing of peoples’ lives

 

As we participate in those holy crossings Lord God is steadily bringing us to see / understand what he is doing

 

We are persons who are used to taking pride in ourselves / to driving for ourselves

 

We are used to accomplishing projects / drawing satisfaction from them

 

But we are also used to being uneasy, jumpy / nervous

 

We have invested ourselves in things that world told us were vital

 

However, investments are not delivering what they promised

We keep looking / searching for better things of this world, things that square with our desires / needs, but there is emptiness that gets larger / larger

 

Only reality that can break into these cycles / snap us out of them is crucifixion / resurrection of our Lord

 

He gives us salvation that does not depend on us

 

He enters our trapped lives, he forces us to confront sin dominating our lives, he leads us to worship him / him alone

 

He gives us peace that is beyond any experience, imagination or emotion

 

Today marks arrival of Anointed One!

 

As Lord’s baptized people we are well aware of world in which we live, but we are going to let him pull us away from its life / concerns so our lives can be imbedded in dying / rising of his Life

 

Palm branches associated with this day, whether they are actually or virtually received, are grasped by Lord’s people to signal arrival of Anointed One

 

They remind us that Lord God is plunging us into greatest week of year, one that overflows with rescue of world’s people from realities of sin, Satan / death!

 

Now may the peace of the Lord God, which is beyond all understanding, keep our

hearts and minds through Christ + Jesus our Lord