Palmarum
Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 16:18
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Thus says the Lord God: “Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion! For behold, I am coming and I will dwell in your midst. Many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and they shall become My people. And I will dwell in your midst. Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth, the Mountain of the Lord of hosts, the Holy Mountain. The streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. Behold, I will save My people from the land of the east and from the land of the west; I will bring them back, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. They shall be My people and I will be their God, in truth and righteousness. And this shall come to pass if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! 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. He shall speak peace to the nations; His dominion shall be ‘from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth,’ ” says the Lord.
Then I said to them, “If it is agreeable to you, give me my wages; and if not, refrain.” So they weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver—that princely price they set on me. Then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. And one will say to him, “What are these wounds between your arms?” Then he will answer, “Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.”
“Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, against the Man who is My Companion,” says the Lord of hosts. “Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.” It shall come to pass in that day that there will be no light; the lights will diminish. It shall be one day which is known to the Lord—neither day nor night. But at evening time it shall happen that it will be light. And in that day it shall be that living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, and the Lord shall be King over all the earth.
On Palm Sunday the passion of our Lord according to St. Matthew is read in full. However, it was the second account of the passion we heard read this morning. The first account was written by the prophet Zechariah five-hundred years before the birth of Christ. This amazingly detailed prophecy tells of Jesus’ betrayal for thirty pieces of silver, of his crucifixion, even of the darkness that covered the earth as our Lord hung upon his cross. More importantly, it reveals that the crucifixion was brought about, not as a chaotic result of sinful plotting, but in accord with the eternal saving purpose of Almighty God.
You may wonder how such a detailed prophecy of the crucifixion could have escaped your notice, especially if you’ve read your Bible from cover to cover. If so, it’s because the reading was drawn from eight separate chapters of the book of Zechariah. Here and there within the prophecy, the Holy Spirit revealed specific events that would take place on the day appointed for our salvation. The ancient church fathers recognized this, and having pored over the words of the prophet, they drew out those portions that spoke directly of the Crucifixion, assembling all the threads of Zechariah’s narrative to reveal the full tapestry of our Lord’s passion. Sadly, this beautiful treasure, which in ancient times was read on Palm Sunday, was laid aside and forgotten by the Church. You have heard it read today for the first time in hundreds of years, and likely for the first time ever in English.
Thus says the Lord God: Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion! For behold, I am coming and I will dwell in your midst! The Lord, who walked with the first man in the cool of Eden’s day until that fellowship was broken by sin, says to the sorrowful children of Adam, “I will restore the lost communion between God and man. I will mend the breech, I will bridge the chasm, I will undo the curse of sin.” Rejoice, O fallen race! Though we could never ascend to Him, our Lord condescends to man. This is the heart of the Christian faith! Christ comes to us, and he would make his dwelling once again among his people. And who are his people? Surely, we don’t deserve him. We were not born in the perfect image of God. We were born into sin, after the likeness of Adam, our fallen father. Our birthright was enmity with God. By nature we were united in opposition against Him, children of wrath, deserving only His punishment. And yet, God says, Many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and they shall become My people. Behold, I will save My people from the land of the east and from the land of the west; I will bring them back, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. They shall be my people and I will be their God, in truth and righteousness!
You, who once were not a people, rejoice! You, who have been added to the number of the elect through Holy Baptism, shout for joy! Behold, your King is coming to you. But he does not come as we might have expected or deserved. In ancient times, when a people rebelled against their king, the news of his coming would be cause for great fear. Behold, your King is coming, astride a mighty warhorse at the head of a terrible army. He comes with righteous retribution. Cry aloud in terror, for the day of just wrath has come upon you.
But God Almighty says to you, “Cry out with joy! Your King comes to you with justice, yes, but also with salvation! He comes astride a lowly donkey, the pack animal of peace, and his message is also of peace. Yes, He shall speak peace to the nations.
But how can a God of justice speak peace to a rebellious people? Justice demands that the guilty be punished. The wages of sin is death. How could we hope to receive anything other than temporal and eternal punishment at the hands of a just God? The answer is found in the second paragraph of Zechariah’s prophecy. Now the speaker is our Lord Christ, and he says to us, “If it is agreeable to you, give me my wages; and if not, refrain.” What humility is this that Jesus says to those who deserve the wages of sin, “Let me receive your wages—that is, if it’s agreeable to you. Let me drink the full cup of wrath in your place. Let me receive the payment for the sins you have committed. Let your sins become mine. If it is agreeable to you, give me my wages; and if not, refrain.” And so we measured out for Him thirty pieces of silver. Oh, the princely price we set upon him, valuing his precious life as worth no more than that of a common slave.
This week, as we contemplate our Lord’s passion, consider who it was that stood to profit from his death. Mark well the words we will sing this Friday: Whence come these sorrows, whence this mortal anguish? It is my sins for which Thou, Lord, must languish; Yea, all the wrath, the woe, Thou dost inherit, This I do merit. It is right that we should look upon our Lord’s cross in sorrow, knowing why and how he hangs there. This also, Zechariah foretold: They will look upon Him whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. Do not hide your face. Do not turn away. Look full upon the cross and see what your hands have wrought. Weep and mourn. When you view the nails piercing through his hands, firmly believe it is your work. When you behold his crown of thorns, know that these are your wicked thoughts. Who has treated you thus, O Lord of Glory? Dearest Savior, “What are these wounds between your arms?” Then he will answer, “These wounds I received in the house of my friends.”
Behind this terrible realization stands an even greater truth. Yes, it was our hands that measured out the silver and drove in the spikes, but the crucifixion was not our doing, not ultimately. Jesus looked upon his murderers and said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!” But there was One who did know. In the final paragraph of Zechariah’s reading, it is God the Father who cries out, “Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd! Arise, O cursed death, and slay My beloved Son, who has been My Companion from eternity. Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.” Such is the Father’s love for you, that he calls for the sword to slaughter his only Son. Isaiah spoke of this, saying, “It pleased the Lord to bruise Him; [The Lord] has put Him to grief. [He has made] His soul an offering for sin” (Is 53:10a).
O wondrous Love, what hast Thou done! The Father offers up His Son, Desiring our salvation! Who can comprehend this plan of redemption, which God set in place before the world was formed? Who can measure the boundless love of God, which he poured out upon our undeserving race? Even the faithful, who witnessed the Crucifixion, did not understand what was taking place. And yet, the Holy Spirit had been speaking of this day through the mouths of all the prophets. There shall be one day which is known to the Lord. And on that day it shall come to pass that there will be no light. It shall be neither day nor night. Oh, darkest of days, when Christ, the light of the world, is extinguished in death. But at evening time, when the eternal night of sin should be deepening all around us, it shall happen that there will be light. Zechariah speaks here of the resurrection. Our sins, which would have bound us forever, could not bind our Lord. Death could not hold him, nor could the darkness swallow him. This terrible day on which the Lord of glory died at our hands is, paradoxically, the day that we shall forever call Good. Is is, truly, a day for singing and rejoicing. Rejoice, daughter of Zion! God descends to man, not with vengeance and retribution, but with forgiveness. He spreads his hands in peace, the marks of the nails still visible, and says to those who were his enemies, “These wounds I received at the house of my friends.” This is the day, long foretold, when living waters shall flow from Jerusalem. Where deep for us the spear was dyed, Life’s torrent rushing from His side, To wash us in the precious flood, Where flowed the water and the blood. Rejoice and sing, beloved people of God, for this is the day that your King comes to you. Amen.