Notes:
The Lord be with you!
The final week in Lent is Holy Week, beginning with Palm Sunday, or the Latin name Palmarum. Every day in Holy Week includes a reading of the Passion story from each of the four Gospel books, culminating in Good Friday with the reading of the Passion according to St. John. The Passion is the theme of the entire week and every service revolves around the sacrificial death of our Savior. This can be observed as we listen to the collects for each service.
Let us pray the collect for Palm Sunday:
Almighty and everlasting God, You sent Your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, to take upon Himself our flesh and to suffer death upon the cross. Mercifully grant that we may follow the example of His great humility and patience and be made partakers of His resurrection; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
And for Maundy Thursday, the commandment given for the Lord’s Supper:
O Lord, in this wondrous Sacrament You have left us a remembrance of Your passion. Grant that we may so receive the sacred mystery of Your body and blood that the fruits of Your redemption may continually be manifest in us; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
And for Good Friday, the day of the world’s redemption:
Almighty God, graciously behold this Your family for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed and delivered into the hands of sinful men to suffer death upon the cross; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Zechariah 9:9-13 (Palm Sunday)
Rejoice, Daughter of Zion! Your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, riding a colt, the foal of a donkey. When Jerusalem is called the Daughter of Zion, that usually means she, the city as well as the people in her, is in trouble. The daughter of Zion is chastised, buried under the cloud of God’s righteous judgment against all her sins of faithlessness. Yet in abundant love the Lord decides to save the daughter of Zion by sending her the everlasting King. He comes in lowliness and humility in order to sacrifice His life to raise the daughter of Zion up from her lowliness. That’s why not only Jerusalem, but we the handful of sinners known as the Church, is also fittingly called the daughter of Zion, and we too can rejoice with all God’s faithful, forgiven people.
Hebrews 4:14–16; 5:7–9 (Good Friday)
Our confidence to draw near to the presence of God is all a gift from Jesus, who has gone before us as our high priest. We have found the grace that will help us in every time of need, and that grace flows from the Cross of Jesus Christ. We don’t have to place ourselves emotionally or otherwise back in time at the precise location of Calvary, but we draw near to the throne of grace wherever Jesus promises to be with us for our forgiveness of sins. In Baptism, in Holy Communion, in hearing the preaching of God’s Word—these are the opportunities for us to claim the benefits of Good Friday.
Luke 22:7-30 (Maundy Thursday)
The Passover was a festival of salvation, dating back to God’s miraculous release of Israel from slavery in Egypt in the year 1446 B.C. Every Passover would look back on that saving event with thanksgiving to God and at the same time the celebration would look forward to the Messiah as the true Passover Lamb of God. He would achieve our ultimate release from the slavery of sin and death forever. Jesus confers His kingdom upon all who deny themselves, take up their cross daily, and follow Him through humiliation, denial of the world and its pleasures, and trials of every kind. We eat the meal of our salvation, which is the Body and Blood given for us and for our forgiveness.
Here’s hymn 442, stanza 5:
All glory, laud, and honor
To You, Redeemer, King,
To whom the lips of children
Made sweet hosannas ring.
As You received their praises,
Accept the prayers we bring,
O Source of ev’ry blessing,
Our good and gracious King.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Pr. Stirdivant
Sermon for Palm Sunday: March 28, 2021 jj
Rev’d Mark B. Stirdivant, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yucaipa, California
✝ sdg ✝
Rejoice, Daughter of Zion, your king comes to you! But not so fast–before you cheer and wave your palms, beware of what it means for you to be called the daughter of Zion. This name does not give you much to be proud of. In fact, the unbelieving and overachieving world, that’s drunk with its out-of-control self-worshiping fetish, they would take it as nothing else but a slap in the face or backhanded compliment, as if someone were to tell you, “It’s nice to know that you don’t need to be pretty or have a good job in order to be happy.” Thanks but no thanks, right? Daughter of Zion may be a term used in the Bible to mean the church, but it is certainly not a flattering one.
In the Old Testament, the names daughter of Zion and daughter of Jerusalem were used more to announce bad stuff happening to the church rather than good. The prophet Jeremiah witnessed the destruction of God’s city at the hands of an oppressive Middle Eastern regime—better known as the Babylonians. He lamented after this devastating event, saying, “Oh, how the Lord in His anger has set the daughter of Zion under a cloud!” (Lam. 2:1) The daughter of Zion was always in trouble. She was the sheep that always loved to stray, looking for better pasture in the fields of another master besides her God. Even to this day, she struggles against her own unbelief and gets bogged down in the sin that so easily entangles, so that she is often not completely free to run the race with perseverance, the way God intended.
The daughter of Zion is sometimes full of doubts. She wants to believe and to do what’s right, to stand right up and publicly make her statement of faith right along with all of you, but the trials, the temptations, the everyday life that swirls around her head push her down again. The daughter of Zion has often been brought down low, even forced down to her knees, in order for her to confess and admit she can do nothing to save herself. She realizes that she can’t make any more vows and promises to do better, because she’s going to go right ahead and break her word yet again.
The more she would read and study the Bible, trying to follow its principles for a better life, the more that same Bible would accuse the daughter of Zion and condemn her for the hypocrite that she is. She might have been sucked in by the televangelists, with their high-flying promises to achieve the glorious Christian life—all you have to do is really give your life to Jesus and pray more often. But where are those preachers and their great promises when the daughter of Zion faces sickness, the death of loved ones, and persecution because of the Christian faith? She is often led to think that there’s something wrong with her, that God is punishing her and her family for not being as committed to Him as she should. The daughter of Zion must come to terms with her own sin and doubt of God because deep down, in her sinful human heart that she inherited from Adam, there is nothing that could give her cause for any joy. If there is any hope for her, if there is any peace, it cannot come from within, but only from the outside.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, you are that stumbling, confused and broken daughter of Zion. Some of you may have tried to convince yourself that because of all your years in church and Sunday School, and perhaps even Lutheran Day School, that you are well on your way past all these things that those infants in the faith struggle with. You think you’re ready for the solid food, that you’re set in position to grasp the baton for the great spiritual relay race, yet really inside you are starving for the milk of God’s Word and the forgiveness that wipes the mud off after you’ve tumbled face-down yet again. You have every reason to be proud of the faithful people whom God used in the past to make this church institution possible, but now you throw your arms up in disgust at how frustrating things are. You are attacked by the full frontal assault of the devil, as well as his favorite, sneaky, back-door approach, using your own sinful flesh and evil desires against you. Those whom you know who stay away from church are attacked the same way, and yet you find yourself too busy to reach out and help them in some way. Remember, I your pastor am just as much the struggling daughter of Zion as you are.
As I said, the hope for the daughter of Zion comes from the outside, not from within. There is no divine potential in yourself for you to tap in to. But that hope, and help and peace from outside of you does exist and it is perfect, sent from God. Daughter of Zion, your help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth! He is your King, you are His privileged subjects because you are born into His kingdom through Baptism. What you could never do for yourself, your King Jesus has already done for you. He was born without sin and lived a perfect life, just so God the Father could look at you and no longer see the sin that would condemn you. When He was crucified just a few days after Palm Sunday, you were joined in Baptism together with Him in His death. The sinful flesh you still have is crucified with your King every day as you confess your sins to Him, to each other, to your pastor and receive absolution, that is, forgiveness from God Himself. Together in His death, but also you are together with Him in His resurrection, and the new man within you is Jesus Himself, making His home within your heart, feeding your body and soul with His precious body and blood.
Therefore, rejoice O Daughter of Zion! Behold, your King comes to you, righteous and having salvation. He comes to you today not with judgment and condemnation because of your sins and broken promises to Him, but rather full of forgiveness, life and salvation because of His sacrifice and victory, and because His promises to you will never fail. He comes to you humble and lowly, though now not riding through on a donkey, but humble all the same and hidden for your benefit in His lowly gifts of water, Word, bread and wine. Though you have often fallen, your righteous King will lift you up and heal you, taking away all your sin. He has the power to restore your broken relationships with the forgiveness and peace that is unknown to our fallen world. He alone can lift our church to remain faithful to His Word and stay strong as a beacon of true saving light, shining forth to our spiritually dark society.
And the suffering, broken, insulted, beaten down daughter of Zion will not remain that way for long. In fact, the saints of God who have died believing in Christ and are safe in the arms of the Lord, they are no longer discouraged, they no longer taste the curse of death. Since you are baptized in Christ, and they have died in Christ, you are one together with them, too! You are never closer to this invisible cloud of witnesses than you are at this communion rail. There is true hope for you, the daughter of Zion, for you are one Church together with the blessed citizens of the heavenly Zion, the redeemed children of God who still pray for you and surround you along with the angels and archangels, even though you cannot yet see them.
Rejoice in the presence of your King, O Daughter of Zion! Receive Him in your mouth and drink Him down your throat in joyful procession. Wave your palms and sing Hosanna for joy, though this week, take to heart the dark, subdued and solemn observance of His death for your sake that we will commemorate as we do each year. Only then on Easter, burst forth with singing and shouts of joyful Alleluia, for your King who comes to you now humble and lowly, will be the same King who will come again in great power to take you to your rightful home in His kingdom. Your Jesus who once was crucified, died and was buried, now lives. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest. A blessed Holy Week to you all!
In the Name of the Father and of the ✝ Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Readings:
Zech. 9:9–12 your King is coming to you … Lowly and riding on a donkey
Psalm 118:19–29 the stone which the builders rejected … this is the day … Save now … Blessed is he
or Psalm 31:9–16 I am in trouble; My eye wastes away with grief
Phil 2:5–11 He humbled Himself … at the name of Jesus every knee should bow … every tongue confess
Matt. 26:1—27:66 after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up..
or Matt. 27:11–54