Palm Sunday - G - 2014 - Ride on in Weakness Jesus

Palm Sunday

April 13, 2014- Pastor Adam Moline

Isaiah 50:4-9a, Philippians 2:5-11, John 12:12-19 (Processional); Matthew 27:11-66

LSB 442, 438, 441   Communion – LSB 443, 440, 634, 543

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today is the Gospel processional lesson read earlier, along with the Old Testament Lesson, especially these words, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”.  Thus far our text.

Hosanna, for your king is coming.  Rejoice, your salvation is riding boldly into Jerusalem today.  He goes to be lifted up.  Ride on, ride on in majesty, in lowly pomp ride on to die!  He who prepared the world for you and me, he who has given us all we have and know, even the very breath of our lives heads into Jerusalem to what we have prepared for him.  Death on a cross. 

And yet, those people cheered him on as he entered.  A large crowd, who had entered for the Passover feast, shouts to Jesus, “Hosanna!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”   With those words, the Son of God rides towards his suffering and death.  He boldly rides on the back of a donkey.  The crowd watches, smiling and rejoicing. 

How can it be?  The people who today shout “Hosanna” will shortly shout “Crucify him, crucify him.”  The people will force the hand of their Roman governor to kill their Jewish King.  It doesn’t make sense, how could they turn so quickly?  We judge them, we criticize them for their change of tone. 

And yet, our faces are in that crowd.  We too, today shout hosannas as Jesus rides into Jerusalem.  We too stand as Jesus rides by.  Jesus, who knows all your sin, who knows all the things you’ve done wrong.  After all he is God.  As he rides by, we know that he knows, and we wonder if he will tell.  Will he share my deepest darkest secrets with those I don’t want to know them?  He’s got to die!  It’s either him or me, and I would rather it be him, wouldn’t I?  We turn on a dime, just as those people so long ago did. 

Hosanna Jesus!  Get on to that cross, before you reveal that I struggle with alcohol!  For you know, that I always have a slight buzz, that I can’t quit drinking.  You know that it has affected my entire life, my job, my family, my friends.  Go to the cross Jesus!  Go to the cross and die!

Hosanna Jesus!  You know that my family life is falling apart.  You know that there are difficulties between my wife and I, you know that my brother won’t talk to me.  You know that I have mistreated my children, you know that I despise my mother and father every day for what they told me what right and wrong.  Go die Jesus, for I have no place for you here in my life.

Blessed be he who comes in the name of the Lord!  Blessed is he, even as I am not, as I have despised God’s word.  I don’t really care for Bible Study.  I don’t really spend time in God’s Word.  I have more important things to do.  I don’t really believe in all this Christianity stuff anyways, but I have to be seen in church.  I preach sermons to myself, sermons that say I am not good enough, that I am not forgiven, that I cannot be forgiven.  Sermons that do not actually match what God’s word said.  I create my own religion on my own terms, so die Jesus for being all “holier than me”. 

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel!  Or so shout our lips, the same lips that just moments ago were putting down John Doe because of the situation in his life.  So shout the same lips that curse, swear, that lie and deceive.  Blessed be God is our shout one moment, and the foulest language imaginable is on our lips the next.  Sinful dogs that we are – so die Jesus!

We murder!  We steal!  We lie!  We covet!  And Jesus does none of it!  So go on Jesus and die!  Go to the cross, for you think you are better than we are!  You think you can control our lives here and now.  You aren’t the God I want, you aren’t the God I create for myself.  So go and die!  Suffer!  Bleed!  Thirst!  Go and do it, for I do not want to, and it is really what I deserve.  For it is I lord that am guilty, not you.  It is I who deserve punishment by my fault, my own fault, my own most grievous fault.  And you Lord Jesus go where I dare not, to die for my sin.  Ride on, ride on to die.

And Jesus does.  Today, dear friends, he rides past us, knowing our sin and guilt.  Today he rides on, knowing our pain and suffering, and still he rides boldly on.  He carries the sin of those who rides past.  He carries the sin of those who in a few days will not shout, “Hosanna!” but “Crucify him!”  He carries the sin of you, of me, even as he knows you will turn on him.  He knows it, and he will not turn aside from it.  He won’t forget it, but he will die for it.  And he does all of this in your place, for you, for your forgiveness.  The death you deserve, today Jesus rides into Jerusalem to deal with. 

This most holy week, have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,  who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,  but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.   And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  And all of this is for you. 

Dear friends, now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.  No longer will you be slave to sin.  No longer can you give into the horrible way of the world.  Satan does not rule you today, nor will he ever again.  He is weak, he is destroyed, he is defeated forever.  For Christ has shed his blood on the cross.  And so we rightly shout, “Hosanna Jesus!  Hosanna to the king, he rides on to die for the sins of the world.  To be lifted up. To take away my sin!  Hosanna!  Blessed are you Jesus” 

Christ goes to die, and he does it for you.  He goes to forgive your sin, to take it away as far as the east is from the west.  On Friday, it is finished.  On the cross, you are forgiven.  Jesus rides in to shout, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”  Ride on, Ride on in majesty, in lowly pomp ride on to die.  O Christ, they triumphs now begin, o’er captive death and conquered sin.  Amen.  

Palm Sunday - G - 2012 - Ride On In Majesty To Die

Palm Sunday
April 1, 2012 - Pastor Adam Moline

Zechariah 9:9-12         Philippians 2:5-11       Processional: John 12:12-19         Gospel: John 12:20-43

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today is the Gospel processional lesson read earlier, along with the Old Testament Lesson, especially these words, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!  Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!  Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he”.  Thus far our text.

Rejoice, your king is coming.  Rejoice, your salvation is riding boldly into Jerusalem today.  He goes to be lifted up.  Ride on, ride on in majesty, in lowly pomp ride on to die!  He who prepared the world for you and me, he who has given us all we have and know, even the very breath of our lives heads into Jerusalem to what we have prepared for him.  Death on a cross. 

And yet, those people cheered him on as he entered.  A large crowd, who had entered for the Passover feast, shouts to Jesus, “Hosanna!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”   With those words, the Son of God rides towards his suffering and death.  He boldly rides on the back of a donkey.  The crowd watches, smiling and rejoicing. 

How can it be?  The people who today shout “Hosanna” will shortly shout “Crucify him, crucify him.”  The people will force the hand of their Roman governor to kill their Jewish King.  It doesn’t make sense, how could they turn so quickly?  We judge them, we criticize them for their change of tone. 

And yet, our faces are in that crowd.  We too, today shout hosannas as Jesus rides into Jerusalem.  We too stand as Jesus rides by.  Jesus, who knows all your sin, who knows all the things you’ve done wrong.  After all he is God.  As he rides by, we know that he knows, and we wonder if he will tell.  Will he share my deepest darkest secrets with those I don’t want to know them?  He’s got to die!  It’s either him or me, and I would rather it be him, wouldn’t I?  We turn on a dime, just as those people so long ago did. 

Hosanna Jesus!  Get on to that cross, before you reveal that I struggle with alcohol!  For you know, that I always have a slight buzz, that I can’t quit drinking.  You know that it has affected my entire life, my job, my family, my friends.  Go to the cross Jesus!  Go to the cross and die!

Hosanna Jesus!  You know that my family life is falling apart.  You know that there are difficulties between my wife and I, you know that my brother won’t talk to me.  You know that I have mistreated my children, you know that I despise my mother and father every day for what they told me what right and wrong.  Go die Jesus, for I have no place for you here in my life.

Blessed be he who comes in the name of the Lord!  Blessed is he, even as I am not, as I have despised God’s word.  I don’t really care for Bible Study.  I don’t really spend time in God’s Word.  I have more important things to do.  I don’t really believe in all this Christianity stuff anyways, but I have to be seen in church.  I preach sermons to myself, sermons that say I am not good enough, that I am not forgiven, that I cannot be forgiven.  Sermons that do not actually match what God’s word said.  I create my own religion on my own terms, so die Jesus for being all “holier than me”. 

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel!  Or so shout our lips, the same lips that just moments ago were putting down John Doe because of the situation in his life.  So shout the same lips that curse, swear, that lie and deceive.  Blessed be God is our shout one moment, and the foulest language imaginable is on our lips the next.  Sinful dogs that we are – so die Jesus!

We murder!  We steal!  We lie!  We covet!  And Jesus does none of it!  So go on Jesus and die!  Go to the cross, for you think you are better than we are!  You think you can control our lives here and now.  You aren’t the God I want, you aren’t the God I create for myself.  So go and die!  Suffer!  Bleed!  Thirst!  Go and do it, for I do not want to, and it is really what I deserve.  For it is I lord that am guilty, not you.  It is I who deserve punishment by my fault, my own fault, my own most grievous fault.  And you Lord Jesus go where I dare not, to die for my sin.  Ride on, ride on to die.

And Jesus does.  Today, dear friends, he rides past us, knowing our sin and guilt.  Today he rides on, knowing our pain and suffering, and still he rides boldly on.  He carries the sin of those who rides past.  He carries the sin of those who in a few days will not shout, “Hosanna!” but “Crucify him!”  He carries the sin of you, of me, even as he knows you will turn on him.  He knows it, and he will not turn aside from it.  He won’t forget it, but he will die for it.  And he does all of this in your place, for you, for your forgiveness.  The death you deserve, today Jesus rides into Jerusalem to deal with. 

This most holy week, have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,  who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,  but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.   And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  And all of this is for you. 

Dear friends, now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.  No longer will you be slave to sin.  No longer can you give into the horrible way of the world.  Satan does not rule you today, nor will he ever again.  He is weak, he is destroyed, he is defeated forever.  For Christ has shed his blood on the cross.  And so we rightly shout, “Hosanna Jesus!  Hosanna to the king, he rides on to die for the sins of the world.  To be lifted up. To take away my sin!  Hosanna!  Blessed are you Jesus” 

Christ goes to die, and he does it for you.  He goes to forgive your sin, to take it away as far as the east is from the west.  On Friday, it is finished.  On the cross, you are forgiven.  Jesus rides in to shout, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”  Ride on, Ride on in majesty, in lowly pomp ride on to die.  O Christ, they triumphs now begin, o’er captive death and conquered sin.  Amen.

Palm Sunday (Passion Sunday) 2011 - G - Now is the time for Christ to be Glorified for you.

Grace mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text today is the Gospel lesson and the Old Testament, especially these words from John, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” Thus far our text.


Now is the time! The Hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Finally after six long weeks of Lent. Finally after waiting in eager but somber expectation, the hour is here. In a few short days, Jesus will be brought to trial, be found guilty falsely, and be murdered by sinful people. Sinful people, like you and me. Sinful people who love the glory of the world more than the glory of God.

We know what the glory of the world is friends, don’t we? We know what things and which people we look up to. The glory of the world is all about me, me, me. It is all about what I want. All about what I desire. The glory of this world is what I can do and make for myself. I want a nice new house, just like I have seen on TV. I want a nice cushy job where I get more days off than I have to work. I want the nicest looking stylish clothing. And I want all of these things so that I can compare myself to others. “Look at me! Look how great I am! Look how much better I am than that poor person there! Aren’t I glorious?”

Not only do we compare ourselves with those around us, but we often times like to put those other people down, so that we ourselves are elevated. We criticize others. We judge them, all so that we can feel better about ourselves. And in doing this, we try to glorify ourselves. Anytime you judge someone else you make yourself God, you make yourself the ultimate judge. When you say, “I am better than this person,” you say, “I don’t care what you say God, I will be judge here.”

Friends the reason we do this, the reason we look to earthly glory is because we know that we have fallen short of what God’s Glory is. We have not fulfilled what God would have had us do in our lives. From the very moment of our conception, we were turning against our Lord and Creator. From the very moment our life begins, we are looking to glorify ourselves, rather than to glorify God. We are sinners, we are self-glorifiers, and we are always, ALWAYS put ourselves first.

We even try to push that picture of glory upon God. Today we welcome Jesus into Jerusalem, not so that he can suffer. Not so that he can save us, but rather to be our earthly ruler and our earthly dictator. In our Gospel lesson the people ask Jesus, “Aren’t you going to be around forever? Scripture says the Christ will be around forever. Aren’t you going to be our eternal earthly ruler? Aren’t you going to have earthly glory as your ruler over us?

But God has a different picture of glory. God doesn’t look at glory through human eyes, looking at wealth or fame or power. God looks at glory the way it is described in our Old Testament lesson, and the way that it is fulfilled by Jesus. Isaiah writes, “I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.” Friends this is what Jesus did to glorify God. He gave up his life in your place. This very morning we celebrate his riding into Jerusalem to suffer and to die, to be lifted up on a cross having had his beard torn, he flesh opened with whips and thorns, and to hang there for you naked for all the world to see. This is not our earthly picture of glory, but it is how God glorifies himself.

Glory, not because Jesus is rich, but because he becomes poor for you. Glory, not because Jesus jesus had the best clothes, but rather because he was willing to have sinful men cast lots for the clothes stripped from his back. Glory not in an earthly mansion, but dying for you to bring you to his eternal home. Now is the hour! Now is the time, because this very week we see God’s glory, the glory of the cross.

And as Jesus suffers and dies, our text says he draws all men and women and children to himself. He draws them to himself saying, “Give up your earthly glory. It is only a shadow of true Glory, the glory that I give to you having received it on Calvary. Come to me, and I will give you glory that lasts forever, glory in baptism as you are clothed with my own righteousness. I will give you glory as here you partake in my suffering and death, eating my body and drinking my blood for your eternal life. Come to me, and I will give you glory, not as the world understands it, but rather in my own suffering and death.

Father, Glorify your Name! Glorify it as you save us poor miserable sinners, even as we put you to death. Glorify your name, as you bring Christ back to life, the first born of all of us who in faith also will receive life and salvation. Glorify your name, as your Son loves each and every one of us who betrayed him and handed him over to death. Now is the time. The hour is here for the Son of man to be lifted up, high for all to see on a cross. Give us the glory of Good Friday, and grant that we may share in it, and the life that it gives. For that is what your promise us. Amen.