Palm Sunday

Text: John 12:12-19

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

When one reflects on life, some moments and events will forever remain imprinted upon you; in fact, they often form your future.

Maybe you can still remember the time when a friend uttered such hurtful words to you on a playground; you vowed never to be friends again. You still remember the conversation when your first love spoke the sad words, "I don't love you." Or you still remember the sadness when you arrived home or received the dreaded phone call informing you that your loved one is dead.

This all begs the question, what is the event that caused the crowds to gather and flock to Jesus today?

It was another death. It was the death of His friend Lazarus. This is the event that occurs just before the Triumphal Entry in John’s Gospel.

Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus, are bound in tears and sadness. Surely, you can relate to this sadness. You become immovable and, in some instances, paralyzed in time. While your life calls you to continue, your mind remains at the grave with death. Through all of this grief, you begin to wonder if things will return to normal or whether someone will call you from this dirge and give you back your life.

If you recall, when Jesus learned of His friend Lazarus’ death, He waited, He waited to travel to console Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus.

Why did Jesus make Mary and Martha wait on Him?

He does this for a couple of reasons. He does this to reveal He weeps with them. He shares their sadness and their life, rather publicly, in fact.

But secondly, He also permits the corpse of Lazarus to lay in waiting – to begin rigor mortis and the decaying process to reveal His power over death. That in Him, the power of resurrection resides that He answers the pleas of God's children not at the time of your choosing but at the right time and according to His will. 

But what does the raising of Lazarus have to do with today?

Again, it’s the moment and event that causes a stir among the Jerusalem crowds, captures their hearts, and inspires their voices. By calling Lazarus out of the grave and calling him to life, it’s a tipping point that now led the people to line the streets and say with great joy,

“Hosanna!
            ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’”

The crowds are led to line the streets and follow He, who is the resurrection of the dead.

The end of the Gospel from John says, “The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, ‘You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!’”

What have you gone after this past year? What has led you in this life? What captures the attention of your heart and mind more than anything else? If it is not the Lord of life, then repent and return to the only Son of the Father. Join the crowds going after Jesus in saying,

“Hosanna!
            ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’”

Hosanna: Save us now! Come and help us.

If these words have been absent from your lips, then place them there now. Sing with all the saints in the Sanctus in preparation for the Supper, “Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.”

Life is full of instances where we misplace our trust, when our words mock the fears and concerns of neighbors, and when we begrudge the crosses God places upon us.

Yet, this week's focus is on the cross. It’s the moment when Christ Jesus lays down His life and saves you from your sins.

It’s the moment that fully reveals Jesus as “the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29)

This is why He came into this world and into Jerusalem, to help and to save you.

So, where do you go from here, and what do you do now?

Your lives are full of many moments when you will be left sad, full of rage, or quite honestly feeling the bands of death tightening within you.

During these periods and moments in time, remember the word "Hosanna."

Save us now! Come and help us, dear Jesus!

Then, as we will do this Palm Sunday, depart, joining the crowds as we heard at the end of the Gospel, going after Jesus - being led in the way of Him, who is the resurrection and the life. +INJ+

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.