Sermon for Palm Sunday
Rethinking Real Strength
By Pastor John Eich Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Alma, MI
Hebrews 12:1-3 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us get rid of every burden and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and let us run with patient endurance the race that is laid out for us. 2 Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, who is the author of our faith and the one who brings it to its goal. In view of the joy set before him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of God’s throne. 3 Carefully consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinful people, so that you do not grow weary and lose heart.
Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, arrested by a mob, humiliated by the Sanhedrin, brutalized by the soldiers, and nailed to a cross. If we did not know the back story to these images, we would have to agree that these are pictures of weakness not strength. Yet through the words of our text we see real strength as Jesus entered the week of his passion 2000 years ago. It was a marvelous show of strength because He had his eye on the goal – your salvation and mine.
When Jesus arrived in the city to shouts of “Hosanna to the Son of David, he was fulfilling Zechariah’s prophecy. This was about making a statement! And the people knew what he was doing. Thousands of hands stripped the palm trees bare on the ascent to Jerusalem to hail the new king who had come to set them free at Passover, the original Independence Day.
The Passover Feast was to Jews what the fourth of July is to Americans only much bigger. It was a rallying point for intense, nationalistic zeal. That is what the palm branches symbolized. Two hundred years before Palm Sunday, there had been a successful revolution led by a man named Judas Maccabeus. He even minted coins with the symbol of a palm tree. This became the symbol freedom for Israel. The people surely hoped for another Maccabean-like revolution. Perhaps they thought Jesus had just been buying time with his teachings but now his intent was clear: to throw the Romans out! And here at the time of festival he had around 2 million zealous Jews gathered in pilgrimage from every corner of the empire. All Jesus had to do was just make the slightest move to revolt—and he would have had massive popular support.
But then, only four days later, we see Jesus arrested, tortured, and crucified. The crowds turned against him. They felt their dreams betrayed. They hoped he was strong enough to throw off the Romans. But now he looked so weak.
Palm Sunday shows us an example of something that happened often in Jesus’ ministry: People give Jesus an identity that is not his, an agenda that is not his, and a schedule that is not his. Then they get upset when his plan is not their plan, when he does not serve them the way they want him to.
From a human perspective, Jesus made all the wrong moves between Palm Sunday and Good Friday. But from his perspective, it was all part of the plan. All the details had to be right, fulfilling prophecy. The place had to be right. The timing had to be right. Even the method of execution had to be right.
Do people still today force Jesus into their personal agendas? Sure we do. We all try to fit Jesus into our own molds. We imagine our priorities must also be his. We praise God when we think our prayers will be answered the way we want. But then we get frustrated when it does not turn out that way. We always try to use things, even God, for our own personal advantage. But thankfully, Jesus refuses to fit into anyone else’s agenda.
It took real strength to not give in to the popular but false notions of who He was supposed to be. It took real strength to endure the scorn, the beatings, and the pain of crucifixion. It took real strength, the strength of divine love to hold him to that cross for sins he did not commit, but for which he was being punished. It was the strength of his divine love for you that helped him endure. He kept his eye on his real purpose-winning the world’s forgiveness and our salvation. His strength was not to be sidetracked or deterred from that goal.
That is why he is our Savior. That is why the writer of the Hebrews tells us to take courage for our own sufferings by fixing our eyes on Jesus and drawing from his strength. “Carefully consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinful people, so that you do not grow weary and lose heart.”
It is easy for us to lose heart and grow weary, isn’t it? Let us face it, we battle our sinful natures every moment of every day. We battle the sin around us. We battle the effects of sin on our bodies, souls, and minds. Our expectations and agendas for our life and our faith are often derailed. So we need to refocus our attention on Christ and the great crowd that surrounds us. It is not the Palm Sunday crowd, cheering one moment, condemning the next. It is the crowd of witnesses, who have run the same course as we are running.
This cloud of witnesses is our encouragement to stay faithful. It is through their lives, weaknesses, and struggles that we see what a great God we have. Encouraged, not just because they got through their troubles, but also encouraged because we can see that by placing faith in Christ in each and every circumstance we too will be delivered.
You have been placed into this cloud of witnesses by God’s grace through seemingly weak things. But they actually have God’s strength for you behind them. Though some see baptism as a mere tradition, you know that through the strength of God’s promise your whole life has been placed in Christ. You are forgiven of all of your sins and recreated in the image of God. Your body is now a temple where the Holy Spirit lives, the guarantee of eternal life. That is real strength!
Though some see only bread and wine, you know that through the strength of Jesus’ words you are given his very real body and blood for your forgiveness. And where there is forgiveness there is also life and salvation. There is God’s strength, still focused on you and your eternal life.
In times of stress, trial, and fears the Spirit enables you to focus not on yourself but on your God who is an ever-present Help in times of trouble. Your strength lies in the God who strengthens you through these Means of Grace. Just as He has helped sinners in the past, so too He will deliver you as well. Do not focus on your sinfulness or inability, focus on Christ. Jesus who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. He has authored all of your days, as clouded and complex as they may seem. He is in the midst of your life giving you strength and hope for each day. In and through all of these trials you are made more like Him. And in the end, you will fully realize this on the Last Day when Jesus comes again to make all things new.
That is why we need to keep our focus on him. Because when we see Jesus as he really is, not just one to make us comfortable now, but one to secure us safely for eternity, everything else starts to fall into place. We will bear crosses in this life and suffer tremendous sorrow and hardship. But we have the strength to endure. Because of Christ’s victory our struggles will not last forever. A time is coming when we will bid this world’s problems, and sorrows farewell and join our Savior in the perfection of eternal life. Will that problem in your life still be troublesome? Yes. Will things still need to be worked out? Yes. But if our focus is on Jesus, we will continue to have eternal perspective. No temptation will overwhelm us. Nothing will separate us from his love. We can trust him today and for eternity that He will be there to save.
Difficulties which make unbelievers surrender in despair can be the means of bringing us closer to God strengthening our faith, deepening our trust, purifying our love. Jesus is the assurance of your victory. Because of his strength the Easter conquest of the grave has given you a title to a room in the heavenly mansions. The decay of the grave gives way to the resurrection of the body. The separation at Christian funerals prepares for the never ending reunion in our better homeland.
In short, let all the enemies of your soul stand in formation against you! Let the devil whisper that there can be no pardon for your sins! Let your conscience protest that you have sinned too often to be restored! Let the world mock and scoff—and it will! As you clasp your Savior's hand more closely, cry out in this triumph of trust: “The Lord is my strength and my song. Of whom shall I be afraid!”
As we journey through this Holy Week, keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. See him give his very body and blood with bread and wine for you. See him allow himself to be betrayed for you. See him allow himself to be condemned for you. See him suffer not just crucifixion, but hell on the cross for you. See him conquer sin by his death and conquer death by his resurrection.
Keep your focus on him. He is your real strength!
Amen.