“Live from Jerusalem: The Triumphal Entry”
Matthew 21:1-11

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Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas
Ash Wednesday—February 17, 2021

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

The theme for the meditations for our Lent services this year is “Live from Jerusalem.”  Imagine you could watch the events of Holy Week on a high definition, big screen TV.  And you had a remote control to pause, back up, zoom, and fast forward. 

We begin tonight with the first episode in the drama of Holy Week, “The Triumphal Entry” on Palm Sunday: “When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, ‘Who is this?’  The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

This scene, of a conquering King riding triumphantly into a city, was very familiar and often repeated in the ancient world.  The palm branches the crowd waves before him are a traditional symbol of victory.  Like rolling out a red carpet before a dignitary, they spread their cloaks on the road before the King to welcome him into their city.

But, pause for a moment, and you’ll see that some details in this particular episode are startlingly different and unique.  Zoom in first on the animal he rides.  For a King’s triumphal entry, it should of course be a warrior’s white steed.  But, he comes, “gentle and riding on a donkey.”  The humblest of animals carries the greatest of Kings.

Fast forward to Good Friday, at his trial before Pontius Pilate: “‘Are you the king of the Jews?’ . . . ‘My kingdom is not of this world,’ he replied . . . ‘You are a king, then!’ said Pilate. Jesus answered, ‘You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.’”  The greatest of Kings rides in on the humblest of animals to symbolize that his kingdom is not of this world.

Zoom in now those accompanying this conquering king.  It should be an imperial guard of select soldiers that march along beside him, with their swords and spears and polished shields glinting in the sun.  But, accompanying King Jesus we see only a rag-tag collection of mostly former fisherman.  Yet, they are in fact are his own imperial guard, his Apostles, select spiritual soldiers, who at the end of this momentous week will go out from this city and lead his followers in conquering for him the whole world. 

Fast-forward to Maundy Thursday, in the Garden of Gethsemane: “Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him.  With that, one of Jesus’ companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear. ‘Put your sword back in its place,’ Jesus said to him, ‘for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.’” 

We are soldiers for him in a spiritual battle, and the weapons we use to conquer the world for him are not earthly but divine.  As Paul, one who would later be added to the ranks of the Apostles, said: “We do not wage war as the world does.  The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. . .  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Therefore put on the full armor of God . . . take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. . .  Fight the good fight of the faith.”

Finally, pause and zoom in on King Jesus himself.  Isaiah says, “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.”  As he rides into Jerusalem that Palm Sunday, he does not look like a King, but merely a carpenter turned rabbi, in the simple clothes of a peasant.  But, fast forward to Good Friday: King Jesus will be guarded by a detachment of soldiers, he will be robed in a royal purple robe, he will hold a king’s staff, he will be crowned in the palace.

“The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him.  They stripped him and put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand, and knelt down before him and mocked him. ‘Hail, king of the Jews!’ they said.  They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. . .  Then they led him away to crucify him.”

On Ash Wednesday, we mourn and lament our sins, for which we all deserve God’s eternal punishment.  But, we also begin our mediation on the Good News of God’s solution for our sin, his own Son’s sacrifice for your salvation.

As Isaiah continues: “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.  Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows.  We considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.  He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.  We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

“Behold, your King comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey.”  King Jesus has come, to suffer and die for the sins of the world; King Jesus has come, to take YOUR sins upon himself; King Jesus has come, to conquer hearts and make them his own; King Jesus has come—for YOU!

Amen.