Don’t Miss Palm Sunday’s Point!

Palm Sunday, 4/13/25 Isaiah 42:1-4 Don’t Miss Palm Sunday’s Point! The who, what, and how. One of the laws of nature is, “Entropy always increases.” In other words, things naturally progress to more disorder, not more order. And that truth applies to the celebrations of our lives. Not quite sure what I mean? Follow me for a minute. Our original intent for celebrating tends to lose focus, not sharpen focus. What do I mean? Take Memorial Day for instance. My father used to refer to it by it’s original name, “Decoration Day.” It was the day on which US citizens decorated the grave sites of our military veterans. And, at the end of next month, you’ll still hear about such decorating taking place, but I’m certain that won’t be first and foremost on the minds of most US citizens. For many it marks the beginning of the summer months. And Memorial Day will be the first of three long weekends this summer. So, the original intent for the celebration is somewhat muddied. It’s no longer as clear as it once was intended to be. And the same thing happens with our Christian celebrations. The classic example is Christmas. As Christians we bemoan the fact that our world is willing to celebrate Christmas with us, as long as it doesn’t have to do anything with the birth of Jesus, the world’s only Savior from sin. And Christians have responded. They display the slogan about “the reason for the season.” They intentionally call attention to the name “Christ” in the word Christmas. And next Sunday won’t be much different. Easter isn’t the commercial bonanza that Christmas is, but it surely shares some of the same mis-focused attention. Too many people will celebrate Easter with new spring clothes, bunnies, eggs, and candy, but won’t give a thought the to resurrection of Jesus from the dead. It’s something far different for too many people. Entropy. Today marks the beginning of Holy Week—one of the highest Christian celebrations. It’s Palm Sunday, a celebration of the day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey in order to complete his work of salvation—a work that would end with his death on Calvary’s cross. But is that it? Just a celebratory ride? Just a happy beginning on what would turn out to be a very sad, very tragic week for Jesus? Is it the observance of a week of contradictions—first popularity, then rejection; first defending him, then denying him; first his display of complete control, then a display of inhuman abuse and scorn; first washing feet with water, then washing sins with blood? And here we are once again this year at the very beginning of it all. Just what is our celebration of Palm Sunday? Why celebrate it? First, remember that Palm Sunday was no accident. It happened exactly according to God’s plan. And that means he must have had something in mind for us to focus on. So don’t miss it. Don’t miss Palm Sunday’s point! The Lord promises to bless you now and throughout your observance of Holy Week as you see what Palm Sunday is all about, as he shares with us this promise of the Savior in Isaiah 42. When it comes to other people, there are times when we just don’t know what to think about them. That can happen with someone we have known for quite a while. We had a good idea of who they are, but what they’ve said and done recently don’t fit our concept of who they are. Or, we’re meeting someone for the first time and we’re receiving information from them about themselves that doesn’t make complete sense. We’re not sure what to think. I suppose one solution to this dilemma would be to have a person hand us a brief written statement about themselves, but that would be weird, wouldn’t it? But that’s exactly what our God does for us regarding our Palm Sunday Savior. Listen again to that description in the opening words of Isaiah 42, “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him.” This is our God telling us about our Savior 700 years before he was born. You may have read or heard these words before, and so, when you just heard them again, your response may have been rather mundane. “Yup. Sure. Got it, Lord. I hear you.” But take another look at them. They tell us things about our Savior that don’t easily fit together. “Servant?” Not the most complimentary of terms in our way of thinking. “Chosen one?” Sounds good, but chosen for what? “In whom I delight?” Now, that sounds better. “Put my Spirit on him?” Sure, whatever that means. Do you see what I mean? How do we make sense of all this and what does it mean as we celebrate Palm Sunday? Good questions. This description of God’s Servant is the first of four such sections in Isaiah. We’ll see another one this Good Friday—the one in which he will be pierced, crushed, and punished for our sins. Yes, describing Jesus as God’s Servant isn’t very complimentary in our way of thinking, but it’s a beautiful, saving truth. It means that Jesus came to do what the Father planned for him to do. To serve us by being our Savior. And he was the Chosen One. That was always God’s plan. What happened to Jesus wasn’t the result of conditions beyond God’s knowledge or control. He chose his Son to be the world’s Savior from sin before the creation of the world. And he showed Jesus was that One when he anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit at his baptism. Now that Servant, that Chosen One, rides into Jerusalem on a donkey on Palm Sunday in complete fulfillment of God’s plan to save all sinners. Palm Sunday is God’s way of saying, “Everything is a ‘Go!’ It’s all set. The Savior is here in Jerusalem to accomplish the work that I sent him to do.” Don’t miss Palm Sunday’s point. The “who” is all set. But the “what” he’s here in Jerusalem to do—at least the way Isaiah tells it—doesn’t add up. It doesn’t seem to mesh with our focus. Isaiah speaks more than once about “justice” and, from what we recall about Holy Week, especially Good Friday, it was anything but justice. The passion account of Jesus is one horrible event of injustice after another. He was innocent! But he was still executed! But that’s the justice Isaiah speaks about in these words, “He will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets…In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth.” Any thinking human being who reads this prophecy about Jesus would likely conclude that Jesus was a stunning failure. If he came to establish justice on the earth, then he wasted his time, because injustice rules in our world. Wouldn’t you agree? But Isaiah isn’t speaking about earthly justice. He’s speaking about heavenly justice, spiritual justice, God’s plan of justice. And that’s exactly what we celebrate this Holy Week. Make sure you focus on it. Sure, it’s ugly. The way that the Jews and Romans treat Jesus is inhuman. He’s innocent and everyone knows it, even Pilate, the Big Roman Cheese, and he states that very thing more than once. But the Innocent One dies? Why? For the guilty ones. For me. For you. For the whole world of sinners. That’s God’s saving justice. The Innocent One took the guilt of the world’s sinners on himself and exchanged it for his innocence. How loving! How beautiful! How saving! Don’t miss Palm Sunday’s point! See the “what!”—God’s saving justice. One more point. The world loves power. The more the better. Jesus possesses all power yet uses none of it. The world loves wealth. The more the better. Jesus possesses all things, yet lets go of them all. The world prizes life. The more glorious the better. Jesus is Life, yet he dies. Executed. What the world misses, we don’t. We see how Jesus seems like every bit of a loser to the world, but we see him as the Victor. We see the “how.” It’s right here in these words of Isaiah, “He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.” Jesus does not overpower anyone. The cries of “Crucify him! Crucify him!” will be deafening, but he doesn’t shout anyone down. They will beat him within an inch of his life, but he doesn’t beat anyone down. Doesn’t even try. Instead, he just stands there, or kneels there, and takes it. Not a word. He subjects himself to the will of the mob. But more importantly, he subjects himself to the will of his heavenly Father. Why? To accomplish the work he came to do. To be the Savior he was born to be. To be the Savior the world needs him to be. To be your Savior. Mine. And then he speaks. “It is finished!” he cries from the cross. And then more silence. Three days of it. And then he speaks, “Peace!” Peace between you and God. Peace between the sinful world and the holy God. That’s our Palm Sunday focus. That’s Palm Sunday’s point! I don’t need to remind you that this will be a busy week. Most of you will celebrate in some way over the next seven days. You have things to prepare at home. We have things to prepare at church. And, in the midst of it all, your daily life doesn’t slow down any. It used to be the case that people had time off this week, at least a little. Not so much any more. The world speeds on. It’s as if Easter doesn’t really matter. And Palm Sunday certainly doesn’t. At least to most people. But don’t miss Palm Sunday’s point! This is the who, what and how of your salvation. If there is only one thing you celebrate, let this be it: A Savior who came to live for you, die for you, and rise again for you. It’s all here. In the next seven days. And it’s all for you. I have a problem. So do you. It’s sin. And there’s only one solution to it: Jesus! Don’t miss Palm Sunday’s point! Or Holy Thursday’s, Or Good Friday’s. Or Easter’s. It’s all here. This week. For you! Celebrate it! Observe it! And be blessed by it! Amen.