What a Ride!

Palm Sunday, 4/5/20
Zechariah 9:9-10


What a Ride!
I. A ride of divine majestic glory
II. A ride to sacrificial atonement


Young or old, we like our rides, as long as they meet our expectations for excitement or pleasure. Kings Island Amusement Park just south of here depends on people who are willing to spend a good deal of money to spend their day enjoying various rides. And those rides range from the intentionally tame rides for the very young to the intentionally intense rides for the brave at heart.

But there are other rides we enjoy. I’m guessing some of you enjoy riding on a motorcycle, especially as the weather becomes better for that kind of activity. I know of people who have travelled across the county on an Amtrak train and have remarked how scenic such a ride is. I enjoy taking a ride at Christmas to see the displays of lights. Rides have a way of bringing us much joy.

But rides can also produce the exact opposite. On March 8, 2014 Malaysia Airline Flight 370 took off with 227 passengers and 12 crew members. Soon after takeoff the flight disappeared, presumably ending in the Indian Ocean without any survivors, a horrifically deadly ride.

On March 7, 2007 the Bluffton College baseball team was taking a bus ride to a tournament when the bus driver mistakenly entered an exit ramp on I 75 in Atlanta that resulted in the bus crashing, killing seven. That was a ride no one would want to take.

Palm Sunday is our annual opportunity to take a ride with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And what a ride it was, unlike any other in history. It began with shouts of “Hosanna!” on Palm Sunday and ended with shouts of “Crucify him!” on Good Friday.

This morning we ponder that ride from the vantage point of God’s prophet Zechariah, writing almost 550 years before Jesus took that famous ride. Reading what Zechariah foretells about that ride and knowing how Jesus fulfilled it, may our God fill us with solemn praise and wonder as we consider it again today. What a ride! May our God fill us with his joy and comfort as we do so.

Part I.

Have you ever felt unappreciated or even dissed for the person that you are and the work that you do? I don’t need you to answer that question out loud. We all have felt unappreciated at times. And when someone else takes the credit for something positive we’re responsible for, it buries the needle on our personal anger meter. On the other hand, what joy it brings us when we’re finally properly recognized for our efforts.

So, imagine how Jesus must have felt when he finally got the recognition he deserved on Palm Sunday. Zechariah foretells the praise he would receive with these words, “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.”

In three short sentences Zechariah, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, captures the event we know as Palm Sunday. And the major theme of his prophetic account is this: “See, your king comes to you.” How ironic that Jesus would stir up so much discussion and dissension among the Jews over that very truth! At the beginning of his ministry they wanted to make him their bread king, but he refused. And because of that refusal, many turned away from him. He was a King, but a different kind of King. And on Good Friday, when Pilate would present a battered, bloody Jesus to the crowd of Jews with the comment, “Here is your king,” they would reject him again by ironically claiming, “We have no king but Caesar.” But those false claims did nothing to subvert the truth of these words, “See, your king comes to you.” And on Palm Sunday Jesus received that glorifying recognition.

You heard it in Matthew’s account of Palm Sunday which was read earlier. The people shouted in fulfillment of Zechariah’s words, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” The people, in full-throated praise, declared Jesus to be their Savior and their King. They did so by referring to him with the messianic title, “Son of David.” God had promised to give David a descendant who would rule forever and through whom he would bless all people. That’s nothing other than the promise of the Savior. The Palm Sunday crowd recognized Jesus as their promised Savior and King. They finally recognized him for who and what he was.

And Jesus received it. At other times in his ministry, he told people not to declare to others who and what he was, because it would only arouse more animosity against him. But now the time had come for all the Jewish people and for all the world to hear, know and believe that very truth—to glorify Jesus.

It was time, because Jesus was just days away from fulfilling this portion of Zechariah’s prophecy, “I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the war-horses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.” As a King, Jesus had come to establish a kingdom—a spiritual kingdom. In that kingdom there is peace between sinners and the holy God. It’s the peace that the angels sang about on the night of his birth and it’s the peace that Jesus extended to his frightened disciples on the day of his resurrection. Because Jesus came to win forgiveness for all sins, the holy God has nothing against us. We live in his eternal peace. A peace which Zechariah foretold and Jesus fulfilled. And Palm Sunday is the day for us to recognize him for it as we see Jesus ride into Jerusalem. What a ride! A ride of divine majestic glory.

We certainly could use a Palm Sunday celebration today similar to the one Zechariah foretold and Jesus fulfilled. God’s people—a crowd of them in front and another behind him—shouting their hosannas to Jesus. But instead, due to COVID-19, we’re distancing ourselves from each other to remain healthy and for the benefit of all the people in our community, country and world. As some have said, this is a war—a war against an unseen, but deadly virus. Who would have imagined three months ago that this is the way our Holy Week would begin?

But let’s not get depressed or distressed. In fact, there’s every reason for us to be filled with hope. How so? Because COVID-19 is nothing compared to the war Jesus rode into Jerusalem to wage on Palm Sunday. We wince at what his earthly enemies did to him, but it was nothing compared to the battle he waged against Satan. Satan came at Jesus with everything he had. And the Father allowed Jesus to suffer hell for us on the cross. As Isaiah foretold, Jesus was crushed for our iniquities, but in doing so, he crushed the Satan’s head. His power over us ended. We’re forgiven and our eternal future with our God in heaven is secure. That’s our hope, that’s our comfort in these distressing days. And it started with a ride by Jesus into Jerusalem. What a ride!

Part II.

When I began this sermon, I mentioned a couple rides that ended in tragedy. That’s not unusual. It happens every day, more times that we can imagine. But what if you knew the ride you had just begun was going to end in tragedy? Wouldn’t you get off that ride immediately?

But Jesus didn’t. The astounding truth is that Jesus knew exactly how this ride into Jerusalem was going to turn out in a matter of days and yet he continued on that ride. In fact, he wouldn’t have had it any other way. He insisted in riding to all the way to Calvary’s cross. What we would never do—take a ride knowing it would end in our death—Jesus did willingly.

Consider that astounding truth for a moment. The King dies for his subjects. In fact, he died for people who wanted nothing to do with him. By nature that’s how all of us are. We come into this world in unbelief, wanting nothing to do with God or anything he has to say to us. In fact, we’re the ones who should be suffering death because we’re the ones who sin, sometimes willfully so. And yet the Holy One, Jesus, dies for all. From a justice standpoint, it’s the most tragic death in history.

But what a blessed event it was for us. We’re worshipping him this morning because his sacrifice was our atonement. It washed our sins away and set us right with God. What we could never do for ourselves—satisfy the justice of the holy God—Jesus did for us. And that’s why we worship him. That’s how he made us members of his kingdom. That’s why we rejoice to call him our King.

And it all began with a ride. What a ride! A ride to sacrificial atonement.

Death counts are a daily, unwanted ritual as the media reports on the COVID-19 pandemic. Those numbers shock us. We’re filled with concern. But, are you concerned enough to take the place of one of its victims? Maybe if it were your child. But what about a stranger? What about someone who offended you? Not a chance, right?

But that’s what Jesus did. He did it out of love for you. And his love is brightly displayed this Holy Week. So, walk beside him by faith as he rides into Jerusalem. See what he did for you so that you could have life with him. Watch and be amazed at the depths of his love for you. And then rejoice a week from now. Rejoice that because he rose from the dead, not one single ride ever needs to be made again, not by Jesus and not by you or anyone else.

What a ride! Enjoy this ride like no other! Amen.