Palm Sunday
Wasn’t All That Powerful
The
people had been waiting for a powerful King.
At least that’s what all of those Old Testament prophecies had predicted. Those famed prophets who had lived in ancient
times had all foretold a God who would come with power and authority and
majesty. Someone who would defeat all of
their enemies, someone who would reign in justice and in truth, someone who
would save them and guard them and protect them with his powerful right
hand. God himself even described what
would happen when he arrived: “Turn to
me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no
other. By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word
that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue
will swear. They will say of me, ‘In the Lord alone are righteousness and
strength.’” All who have raged against
him will come to him and be put to shame. But in the Lord all the descendants
of Israel will be [vindicated] and will exult.” This was the kind of God that the people were
expecting: a God who allows no other gods but himself, a God who speaks
irrevocable words, a God who would make every knee bow and every tongue
confess, a God who would shame those who rage against him, a God who would vindicate
(prove right) those who have trusted in him…
The Jewish people were expecting a mighty God, an impressive God, an
imposing God. And they could not wait for
him to arrive.
But then
one Sunday afternoon around 33 AD, he did arrive. It was just a few days before the annual Passover celebration began and
a man named Jesus came into Jerusalem riding on a donkey. Palm branches were thrown into the street,
robes covered the road, his disciples cleared the way, and little children sang
his praises as he plodded through the city gates of the of Judea’s capital. “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!” the people shouted. “Peace in heaven and glory in the
highest!” “Hosanna to the Son of David!” Jesus
was the King. Jesus was the promised Savior.
Jesus was the God whom the
prophets had predicted for so many years.
But Jesus didn’t seem to fit the bill on that Palm Sunday afternoon.
Jesus
didn’t seem to match up with who this Savior was supposed to be. Jesus didn’t seem to possess any of the
characteristics of this mighty heavenly being that the people had heard about
for hundreds and hundreds of years.
“This can’t be the one!” they assumed.
“He isn’t making every knee bow down to him! He isn’t punishing those who persecute
us! He isn’t raising up those who have
been faithful to God for all these years!
Where’s the glory? Where’s the
splendor? Where’s the power?”
And because
Jesus displayed no power that day, most of the people despised him. They hated him. And they refused to believe in Jesus because
he wasn’t what they were expecting. He
wasn’t what they wanted. And so they
took things into their own hands and they tried to do things their own way
because this Galilean riding on a donkey obviously wasn’t going to be able to solve
their problems and fix their difficulties. They were going to have to do that themselves.
We Take Things
into Our Own Hands
Sometimes
God’s power seems to be absent in our own lives, doesn’t it? We expect protection from our God and yet we
experience all kinds of accidents and disasters and setbacks. We expect guidance from our God but we find
ourselves turned in the wrong direction on a regular basis. We expect that our God will always be there
right by our side but there are times when he doesn’t seem to be around us at
all. And we are prone to think: “Where’s
the power, Lord? Where’s your strength
and your control and your influence, Lord?
Isn’t that what you promised?
Isn’t that who you are?” And when
we get tired of waiting for him to do something, we take things into our own
hands. And when we get tired of praying
to him that he might make things right, we start to do things in our own
way. Because this is not what we were
expecting from him. This is not what we
wanted. And so we aren’t going to wait
any longer; we are going to take charge ourselves because this man who rode on
a donkey into Jerusalem obviously isn’t doing anything to solve our problems or
fix our difficulties. We’re going to
have to do that on our own.
We aren’t very patient with the Lord, are
we? We don’t like to wait for his might
and his glory and his power to be displayed in our lives - we want immediate
action and immediate results. And when
we don’t get them, we assume something has to change, someone else has to take
the lead. But do we really think we can
take things into our own hands and come out any better? Do we really think that we can do things our
way and improve upon the Lord’s plans?
Last
summer, an elderly woman in Spain got fed up waiting for a 100 year-old painting
of Christ to be restored in the church she attended. And so she decided to take matters into her
own hands. When no one was around, she
took out her paintbrushes and attempted to restore this beloved painting of the
Savior. Unfortunately, she was no
artist. And if you happened to see the
finished result, you know how badly she butchered that painting of Jesus. It went from a professional, albeit
neglected, portrait to nothing more than a grotesque, misshapen face that
looked like it was produced by a child with a handful of water colors. The church had plans to restore it; in fact
they had just received a donation to do so; but this 80-year-old woman couldn’t
wait any longer and decided to try it herself, ruining the painting in the
proces
We may
get a little impatient with our Lord to fix the things we think need to be done. But whenever we try to take things into our
own hands, we only make things worse.
Because we do not have the abilities to do what needs to be done; we do
not have the knowledge to understand what is needed for the good of everyone
else; and we do not have the insight to realize how and when and why things should
happen the way they do. And no matter
how smart we think we are, we are not smart enough to handle things on our own! That’s why Jesus rode into Palm Sunday in the
first place! Because we couldn’t get the
job done! We couldn’t fix the problem of
our own sins! We couldn’t manage to get
ourselves out of the hole we dug with our own actions and attitudes! We
couldn’t do it. That’s why Jesus
came. And so how could we ever think
that we are capable of doing something better than the Lord can now?
Jesus’ Power is
Sometimes Hidden in Weakness
That
doesn’t mean that it’s easy to wait for the Lord to do what he plans to do. Because sometimes the power of the Lord is
hidden in the simple. The Lord’s power
was hidden on Palm Sunday in a simple man riding on a simple donkey. It was hidden in the branches on the
road. It was hidden in the voices of the
children. Jesus certainly didn’t seem
powerful at that moment; it definitely didn’t look like he was the one true almighty
God; but that’s exactly what the one true almighty God needed to do at exactly
the right time. And his power remained
hidden in the simple until the end of the week.
It was hidden in a man arrested late Thursday evening in a garden. It was hidden in a man who stood on trial
before the high priest. It was hidden in
a man sentenced to execution by the Roman governor. It was hidden in a man carrying his own
torture device up a hill. It was hidden
in a man bleeding, in a man crying out, in a man dying. There was no power there, just weakness. His power was even hidden in a tomb for three
days. And I’m sure the followers of
Jesus were wondering if they needed to do something themselves! Because this Jesus certainly wasn’t going to
be able to do anything anymore! He was
dead! He was gone! His body was wrapped up and lying cold in a
cave! Maybe it was time for someone else
to step up and get the job done! But the
tomb was exactly where the one true powerful God needed to be at exactly the
right time. It probably wasn’t something
that anyone else would have thought up; it probably wasn’t something that we
would have planned; but that was the only thing that would have worked. That simple scene in the darkness of a tomb
was the most powerful thing the Lord could have done. Because through that simplicity came our
salvation.
God’s
power is still demonstrated in the simple things today. In the simple water used in baptism, God’s
powerful forgiveness is given. Through
the simple bread and wine used in the Lord’s Supper, Jesus’ real body and blood
touches your lips and you are cleansed in a very powerful way. Through the simple Word of God spoken out
loud, the Holy Spirit powerfully works on our hearts. Through the simplicity of a cross, through
the simplicity of a drop of blood, through the simplicity of a nail, the powerful
plan of our salvation is brought to mind once again and we are filled with
peace. God’s power has always been
hidden in the simple. And sometimes the
simplest things are the most powerful of all.
Jesus’ Power
Will be on Full Display
But one
day soon that all will change. One day
soon the Lord will unhinge his power and glory and might and all of those Old
Testament prophecies will come true. Even
those words the Lord said through Isaiah will be fulfilled: “I am God, and there is no other. By
myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not
be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear. They
will say of me, ‘In the Lord alone are righteousness and strength.’” All who have raged against him will come to
him and be put to shame. But in the Lord all the descendants of Israel will be
[vindicated] and will exult.” Every
knee will bow. Every tongue will
confess. Every enemy will be
destroyed. Every believer will be proved
right. The Lord will be the one true God
and he will allow no others. His power
is coming. His full uninhibited power is
coming. And it will not be clothed in
the simple any longer. It will not be
found riding on a donkey or standing on trial or hanging on a cross or lying in
a tomb. It will be seen for what it is:
an overwhelming display of the divine might of God. And you will never have to wait again. You will never have to wonder or worry about
when God will display his strength in your life. Because you will be living in that majesty. You will be reveling in that glory. And so just like those believers during the
time of Christ, you can look forward to and expect a powerful King. But as you sing his praises with the
believers in heaven just as those children did on the rode into Jerusalem on Palm
Sunday, the power of God will not pass you by.
It will not ride on out of sight.
It will not fade away. So hold
on. Be patient. His power is coming. And it will come at exactly the right time.
Amen.
“Now to the King
eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and
ever. Amen.” - 1 Tim. 1:17
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