April 12, 2014

Behold, Jesus!

Palm Sunday, 4/13/14
Zechariah 9:9-10


Behold, Jesus!
I. A unique King
II. A unique kingdom


It’s becoming more and more difficult to impress people. I can’t help but think that the reason for it is that we routinely have amazing things to see and hear right before us every day of our lives. Modern communication technology makes it possible for you to see a world full of amazing things at the click of a computer mouse or at the touch of a mobile screen. There it is in full color. You can spend a few seconds being amazed or an entire day. The graphics are intense, the colors are vivid and the sound is rich, clear and full. And if it’s not high definition, we have a hard time paying attention.

This morning I don’t have a single sound byte for you to listen to. Not a second of high definition video. No spectacular effects. In fact, it’s nothing new. You’ve seen it before, probably more times than you can count.

But I’d like you to join me in being amazed, nevertheless. On this Palm Sunday I’d like you to be amazed at your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. That’s one of our Lord’s goals for this portion of his word before us this morning. He caused Zechariah to see the events of Palm Sunday several hundred years before they occurred and he points to how amazing the promised Savior would be when he writes, “See, your king comes to you.” The word for “see” in the Hebrew is actually a word that announced something unexpected. “Behold!” would be another good translation. It’s directing us to look at something wonderful, something unusual, something unique.

And that’s exactly what we see in our Savior as we celebrate Palm Sunday. As we launch into Holy Week, we know and believe that what the Palm Sunday crowd declared about him is true: he is the King. He’s the King in spite of what happened to him that week so long ago in Jerusalem. He’s the King because of what happened there in Jerusalem so long ago. So behold him! Behold, Jesus! Let’s do just that this morning.

Part I.

When you think of a king, what thoughts come to mind? That largely depends on what you know about kings. As a child, you likely had a rather romantic, unrealistic view of who a king is and what he does. You envisioned a powerful person who used his position and authority to defend and bless his subjects. But you’ve wised-up over the years. By and large, monarchies are a thing of the past. Most of that is due to the abuse of the power and position kings possessed. There’s a good bit of truth to the pithy statement, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” You still see it occurring today. We don’t trust such people and rightly so.

So, any ideas of a king bringing blessings such as security and the pursuit of happiness have been dashed by our modern reality. Truly good and decent kings don’t exist.

Behold, Jesus! How different he is! Zechariah doesn’t begin his words of prophecy stating, “Watch out! Beware! Here comes another lousy Jewish king in a long line of lousy Jewish kings!” Instead, he states, “Rejoice greatly, Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!” Whenever and wherever Jesus comes to his people, there is always reason to be glad, to rejoice, because he does not come to fleece his people, to abuse them, to use them, to oppress them; he comes to bless them. He comes to give them what they so desperately need.

So take a look at what he brings. Behold! Zechariah writes, “See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Your King comes to you righteous. In other words, he’s holy. Of course he is! At first, that might alarm us because sinners can’t stand in the presence of the holy God. God’s holiness magnifies and exposes our sinfulness. But Jesus hasn’t come to vaporize us with his holiness. He came to heal us. He does that by giving us his righteousness or holiness by faith in him. He came to make us saints in the eyes of God.

Along with that righteousness comes his salvation. The two go hand-in-hand. His salvation comes to
all who possess his righteousness. Salvation inherently involves a rescue from certain death and destruction. That’s exactly what our Savior-King, Jesus, came to do. By suffering and dying in our place, he has removed our sins and guilt—the very sins and guilt that rightly condemn us to life without our God. We’ve been rescued from that hellish future and have been set on a course for eternal life with him—an eternal lifestyle make-over, if you will. When you consider who we were and where we were headed, and who we are now and where we’re heading, you can’t help but be amazed and impressed.

But don’t miss the all-too-obvious. Your King enters humbly, on a donkey, the common beast of burden. He comes not to be served, but to serve. He does that by giving his life for his subjects. That’s unheard of! How unusual! But that’s Jesus, your King.

Behold him! Behold, Jesus! A unique King!

Doesn’t a good king—one who always has the best interests of his people at heart—have the right to expect that his people will serve him in return? Doesn’t his loyalty to us produce our loyalty to him? It should! But an honest evaluation will reveal a woeful record of loyalty. We either decide that we don’t want his rule over us in this corner of our lives or we fail to trust his rule in this corner of our lives even though he has always been faithful to us. The more we understand what our Savior deserves and requires from us, the more we understand how far we’ve fallen short. But that’s what makes this King so unique. He came to serve us. He came to give us his forgiveness and the righteousness and salvation we so desperately need. And these great blessings are ours by faith in him. These are the very blessings he wants to bestow on us in abundance. Behold, Jesus!

Part II.

What’s the measure of greatness when it comes to a nation? I’m certain that there are several answers, but one of them certainly is a nation’s ability to exert its influence. We’re seeing it play out in the Ukraine. Might makes right.

There was a time in Jewish history when God’s people enjoyed that power, specifically under King David. But that was hundreds of years before Zechariah wrote these words. That influence in the world was but a dim memory. It’s no wonder that, when Jesus appeared on the scene and displayed his almighty power before thousands of Jews at a time, a desire for him to return Israel to such power was too much to resist. You can hear the people declare with nationalism brimming in their hearts, “Yes, Jesus, be our king!”

But that’s not what Jesus had come to do. Zechariah makes that clear, “I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the war-horses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken.” Jesus wouldn’t defend the Jews from the Romans nor extend the Jewish sphere of influence. He wouldn’t assume a Jewish throne and he wouldn’t establish a Jewish kingdom.

He was here to establish an entirely different kingdom. As he would testify before Pilate early Friday morning, he wasn’t here to establish an earthly kingdom.

But a new kingdom would arise and this is what that kingdom was all about, “He will proclaim peace to the nations.” Jesus had come to establish peace—peace between sinners and the holy God. That’s exactly what happened on Friday when he declared that his work was finished. No more sacrifices for sins were necessary. He had done it all.

He had done it for all. His kingdom knows no borders. Zechariah describes it like this, “His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.” Jesus paid for every sin of every sinner. He wants every sinner to come under his blessed rule and protection. Without a doubt his Church is found all over our world, wherever his people gather around his word and sacraments. There is our King’s kingdom. There’s no kingdom like it. There never will be.

Behold, Jesus! He rules a unique kingdom.

There are countless reasons to be concerned about the future of our world, of our country, and of our place in it. What does the future hold for us and for our children? We can’t be certain—not when it comes to this life, not even when it comes to what will happen tomorrow.

But thanks be to God, you also live in another kingdom, one that’s completely different! In this kingdom, there are no worries. In this kingdom, there is no stress. In this kingdom, there is no death. It’s an eternal, immortal kingdom of peace. And you are a member of it by faith in Jesus. Thank God that he has extended his saving rule into your heart. May he increase that rule this week as we hear once again of his sufferings, death and glorious resurrection! Behold, Jesus! Amen.