Palm Sunday/Sunday of the Passion - Video and Sermon Text

Video of Divine Service in Rensselaer, IN

Palm Sunday/Sunday of the Passion

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

O Lord, let the words of my lips and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my Rock and my Redeemer. Amen.

As we begin Holy Week, we enter the mystery of just how deeply God cares for us. For our sake, God has humiliated himself. I don’t mean humiliation as in embarrassment. I mean humiliation in the sense that he has become a creature like us in order to save us. The Epistle describes the incarnation in humiliating terms: “though he was in the form of God, … he made himself nothing, being born in the likeness of men.” 

Hymn 815 All Praise to Thee renders Philippians 2:5-11into poetic verse. We won’t sing it today because it has an alleluia as the refrain. We will hold off on our Alleluias until Easter. But the first line captures the essence of what the Son of God did for us. 

All praise to Thee, for Thou, O King divine, Didst yield the glory that of right was Thine, that in our darkened hearts Thy grace might shine. 

Jesus yielded the glory that was His so that our dark, sinful, hearts might, through faith, be filled with God’s grace. Jesus gave up his natural state of being so that we can be reconciled to God. While retaining His divinity, Jesus enters fully into our humanity. The eternal enters the temporal. The everlasting entered the finite. True spirit entered the corporal. The uncreated entered his own creation. 

The Son of God is emptied and humbled. In comparison to where he was, he is in a state of humiliation. Love for us has brought Him very low indeed. His purpose for being with us in this manner is not simply to identify with us. He becomes fully human in order to receive the punishment that we deserve. The Apostle describes his generosity and kindness towards us like this: “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” 

Jesus enters Jerusalem as a king. For He is the King of Creation, the everlasting Son of the eternal Father. He is the Word that brough all things into existence. But, now as he enters Jerusalem on a donkey, His humiliation deepens as he endures the depravity of our human nature upon Himself. Lies, pride, fear, anger, resentment, jealousy, all of these are on display as Jesus is betrayed, accused, tried, mocked, and finally put upon the cross. The king empties himself of all rights, privileges, and protections in order to take our place before the Father’s righteousness. He who knows no sin bears the wrath of God as one who is a sinner. Only the Divine king can bear the guilt and failure of every human. The king serves us by suffering for us. The King lays down his life for His people. By his death, He redeems us. He takes us back from the clutch of unholy trinity. Christ receives our punishment and returns to us forgiveness, salvation, and the assurance of ever lasting life. 

For you, Jesus enters Jerusalem. For you, Jesus receives His stripes. For You, Jesus dies. For You, He gives up His spirit. 

All praise to Thee, for Thou, O King divine, Didst yield the glory that of right was Thine, that in our darkened hearts Thy grace might shine.

Thank you Lord Jesus, for the grace of your love so that we may abide in your forgiveness. 

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.  


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