Rejoice! Jesus Is Here!

Palm Sunday, 3/29/15
Zechariah 9:9-10


Rejoice! Jesus Is Here!
I. See how he arrives.
II. Listen to what he says.


The anticipation of the arrival of someone you’re expecting can be overwhelming. I don’t mean that in a bad way, as when the expected person is an IRS agent or the repo man. I mean it in a good way, as when it’s a beloved child or parent, a dear friend, your fiancé or spouse. You’ve been thinking about this arrival for weeks or even months, and now the day is finally here. Unlike other mornings, you wake up that day and are fully alert within seconds. Your feet hit the bedroom floor and from then on the minutes seem like hours as you wait and wait and wait.

And then that special person arrives and it’s one of the happiest moments of your life. As you rush toward your loved one there are mutual shrieks of joy and the excited waving of hands. It all culminates in an embrace and, if appropriate, a kiss or two. You’re elated that your loved one has arrived.

But would you begin that same kind of rejoicing a month earlier, a full 30 days before your loved one arrives? Of course not. How about a week earlier? Probably not. How about a day in advance? Still not likely.

Then we’re probably incredulous when we hear that Zechariah tells the people of his day to rejoice 500 years before an expected arrival. How can Zechariah be serious? Because Zechariah wasn’t speaking about the arrival of a sinful mortal. He wasn’t pinning his hopes on the uncertain plans of sinful humans. He was speaking about none other than the holy Son of God. He was basing his confidence on none other than the plans of the almighty God to work out the salvation of every sinner.

You don’t have to be a biblical genius on this Palm Sunday to know for certain that Zechariah was foretelling the arrival of Jesus into Jerusalem on the first Palm Sunday. And what an arrival that was! What a day that was! Considering what Jesus had journeyed to Jerusalem to do—to complete the work of our salvation—it’s only appropriate that we rejoice. Might we even say to be giddy with excitement? So let’s do that this Palm Sunday. Rejoice! Rejoice! Jesus is here!


Part I.

It’s been stated that you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression. That’s not only witty, it’s logical. That’s why you take great pains to look your best when interviewing for an employment position you’re interested in. Look sloppy, appear like you just crawled out of bed 5 minutes ago, make some statements that lead the interviewer to think you don’t know what you’re talking about and you can all but forget landing that position. And on the other extreme, give the impression that you’re a haughty know-it-all, you probably won’t succeed either. You blew it.

What an impression Jesus made on Palm Sunday as he rode into Jerusalem. It was just perfect! As the almighty Son of God and creator of all things, Jesus could have appeared with a display of power, pomp and circumstance like the world had never seen before nor since. He had everyone and everything at his disposal. Or, he could have entered Jerusalem completely undetected by anyone and anything. But note the perfect entrance balance that Zechariah foretells, “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Zechariah properly identifies Jesus as a King. In truth, he’s the King of kings and Lord of lords. Some of his fellow Jews couldn’t wait for him establish his kingdom and rule the world. But Jesus wasn’t here to establish that kind of kingdom or to be that kind of king. Five days later he would stand before Pilate bruised, bloodied, grossly disfigured and proclaim that he was a King, but not of this world. And that’s just what we need to hear! He came to bring us into his kingdom, to redeem us, to rule over us with his love and over our world with his almighty power.

What’s more, Zechariah correctly identifies the gifts he’s bearing. He’s “righteous and having salvation.” Too often in our experience, we receive gifts we really have no need for. But not these gifts! If sin is our greatest problem—and there’s no argument about that—then righteousness is just what we need. Jesus arrived in Jerusalem that day so that he could take all our sins on himself and exchange them for his holiness. In doing so, we have salvation. We’ve been rescued from hell and made heirs of heaven.

As powerful as he is—and you can’t beat almighty—he doesn’t misuse it to bend people to his will. Zechariah calls him “gentle” as he makes his way into Jerusalem. The only beings he ever pushed around while here on earth were the devil and his demons. As much as his enemies deserved it, he never laid a hand on them. The most important person in all of history was known to take the time to pull children up into his lap to show them how much they meant to him. Gentle.

And humble to boot. On the Thursday evening of this Holy Week, Jesus would state that he could have 12 legions of angels at his disposal to fight for him. He could have used those same angels to usher him into Jerusalem for the most important work in all of history. Instead, Zechariah foretells a common donkey will be his chosen mode of transportation. Nothing special about that. Understated to say the least.

The fact that Zechariah foretells exactly how Jesus would arrive in Jerusalem and that Jesus fulfills it exactly is irrefutable proof that the God of our salvation had this all planned down to the last letter. And Jesus makes a perfect entrance. So rejoice! Rejoice! Jesus is here! See how he arrives.

We’ve often witnessed people make a bad beginning, but then, often with tremendous effort and dedication, they end things well.

Praise God that didn’t happen with Jesus! This first Holy Week began perfectly and, come dawn of the next Sunday, it ended perfectly. Do you realize how critical that is for you and me? Just one prophecy unfulfilled, just one moment of sinful impatience, just one quick act of sinful aggression and we’d be sunk in hell. And the reason his perfection is so important to us is that our record before the holy God is far from perfect. In spite of what we tend to think about ourselves, our efforts on their own don’t impress God at all. In fact, we give him plenty of reasons to be disappointed and disgusted with us. Our lovelessness, our lack of charity, our selfishness and discontent all condemn us. So that’s why Jesus arrived as our King, yet gentle and humble. Righteous and having salvation. The next time you’re struggling with guilt or battling depression or doubting God’s love for you, take a look at Jesus’ perfect arrival and rejoice! Jesus is here!

Part II.

Nearly two years ago, the BBC published an article describing the peace talks that have occurred over the strife in the Middle East since 1967. If you’re interested in reading about the finest of intentions resulting in close to nothing, I recommend it to you. All this talk about peace is just that—all talk.

So why would Zechariah think his talk about peace coming out of Jerusalem would be any different? Because his talk had nothing to do with the efforts of sinful world leaders; the peace of which Zechariah speaks is the result of the work of Jesus. What’s more, it’s not peace between feuding factions of people; it’s the peace between sinful people and the holy God.

Zechariah foretells the removal of ancient war machines like chariots and horses and the breakage of war weapons. It certainly sounds like he’s speaking about earthly peace. But he does so only as a symbol of the spiritual peace Jesus will bring—a peace for all nations.

As sinners trust in Jesus for that peace, he brings them into his kingdom, a kingdom that Zechariah describes as being from “sea to sea” and “to the ends of the earth.” You and I know that kingdom as the Holy Christian Church, comprised of Christians all over the world, in heaven and on earth.

What’s so sobering for us at the threshold of this Holy Week, is what that peace cost our Savior. This Friday we’ll agonize not only at the suffering our Savior endured, but over the fact that our sins made that suffering necessary. It’s because of what we did that he must suffer hell.

But our Holy Week worship won’t end there at Calvary as we watch his body removed from the cross and laid in Joseph’s tomb. Already today we wait in anticipation of shouting our praises to the One who rose from the dead to guarantee our peace. In fact, without Easter, Good Friday would be meaningless, a cruel hoax. One of the risen Savior’s common greetings was, “Peace!” and it still is. By God’s grace we live in it. So rejoice! Rejoice! Jesus is here! Listen to what he says. He proclaims peace.

Our world makes light of sin. In fact, all too often it finds sin to be entertaining. That’s a twisted way of thinking—to consider something that drives a wedge between us and God to be something entertaining and desirable. It ought to horrify us, but we blush to admit how often that’s been our mindset as well. Instead of shunning sin, we cuddle with it, thinking it’s no big deal. But take a look at your Savior. See him reeling in pain as he stands before his accusers. Imagine the utter horror on his face as he realizes his Father had forsaken him. And why? Because that’s what sin costs. That’s what it cost Jesus. Because he paid it, we have peace. Your God has nothing against you. Your guilt is gone. You possess the righteousness and salvation Jesus came to win for you. So take Zechariah’s encouragement to heart this Holy Week and rejoice! Rejoice that Jesus is here, here to complete his work as your Savior from sin. Amen.