Our worship service today began a little differently than it normally does. We don’t usually have the children of the congregation walk into church as a group at the start of the service. We don’t usually have them carrying Palm branches. We don’t usually stand for the opening hymn or have
the opening liturgy that we did today either.

The changes made this week were for hopefully obvious reasons. Today we celebrate Palm Sunday, the start of Holy Week during which we will do many things at church which we don’t normally do. We will have special worship services on Thursday and Friday. Many of us will gather next Sunday at 6:30 AM for an Easter Sunrise service, our liturgies will for the most part be different.

Why? Because we use these special activities to remember a week in the history of the world unlike any other. During the first Holy Week the Son of God himself would come into the holy city of Jerusalem as a conquering King but leave a murdered King. During that week the Son of God would die only to rise again. This is the most significant week in the history of the world and we want to be a part of remembering it and worshiping God in special ways so that we realize its eternal significance.

But how much do we really realize what went on during Holy Week? How much do our special
activities help us to remember why Jesus did the things he did? How much will holding palm branches and singing a special hymn have an impact on our lives?

I think sometimes that if we don’t really think about what we are doing, the meaning of what we do is almost lost. For example: Today you sang with the children a word that you don’t usually use. You sang a word that wasn’t even English originally. It was Hebrew and I doubt that any of you know Hebrew and that few really know what that word means. And yet, that word is what
Holy Week is all about. What word is it? Hosanna. In the dictionary this word is described as a word to give praise to God. But that isn’t what it really means. It means “Save!” By saying this word we are calling on God to save us and in this usage we recognize that God does save us by
sending he who comes in the name of the Lord.

And that is what Palm Sunday is all about. On this day
The Humble King Comes to Save His People

Context: Matthew describes for us the preparations Jesus made for this event. He sent two disciples ahead of him from Bethphage to get a donkey and its young colt. When they returned,they placed their outer garments on the donkey and Jesus sat on the young colt. He then began to
ride into Jerusalem. As he proceeded, a great procession was formed. The disciples and then the people would lay their clothes on the road in front of the donkey. Many cut down branches and laid them on the ground or waved them.
9The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Hosanna in the highest!”

This was an exciting day for the people. The procession wasn’t really that elaborate like a big parade would be, but it was full of meaning. Their actions were fulfilling a messianic prophecy which had predicted that their king would come riding into the capital city on a donkey to save his
people. Many in the crowd believed that this is what Jesus was doing (and they were right) and so in joyful anticipation they gave honor to him and called on God to fulfill his promise to save him. In doing so they did what they didn’t normally do because this day was so important.

That is why we began the service as we did. It is to remember that Jesus came to Jerusalem on that first day of Holy Week to save his people. Therefore, it is fitting for us to wave palm branches and sing Hosanna. It is just too bad that our calling on God to save wasn’t as
enthusiastic as those early believers because we need salvation just as much as they did.

Hosanna! Save! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Those people shouted and sang enthusiastically because they were longing to be saved by God.

What did they want to be saved from?
Unfortunately, it wasn’t what they really needed salvation from. Many in the crowd only saw Jesus as an earthly ruler who would powerfully lead a rebellion against Roman rule. They hoped that he would be about to oust Pontius Pilate and the Roman soldiers from Jerusalem so they didn’t have to pay taxes to Caesar anymore. They expected that Jesus would lead a mob to the Palace of Pilate itself and demand that he leave.

But that isn’t what Jesus did. The place Jesus went is significant concerning what he came to save them from. He went to the temple. He drove out the money changers and those selling sacrificial animals in the temple courts. He came to save the people from a false religion of works and of self-righteousness. His battle wasn’t against the Romans but against their own misguided
religious leaders. His battle at the end of the week would be against human government but against the ruler of the kingdom of the air, Satan himself, as Jesus would die on a cross to deliver his people from the power of sin, death, and the devil. Jesus came to save his people from their sins.

That was always God’s plan. Before Jesus was born, the angel said to Joseph:
21She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
But somewhere along the way the people had forgotten the real reason for a Savior and could only see him as a political champion. And so when it became apparent during the week that Jesus was only going to save them from their sins, many turned from him.

And yet, Jesus did carry out his work. He fulfilled prophecy by humbly riding into Jerusalem as a humble king to save his people from their sins. He resolutely went to the cross to die on it for all.
He rose again on Easter to show his victory.

By his actions, our King saved us. And yet, there is something we must do to receive that
salvation ourselves. As the jailer at Philippi once asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” But before we can answer that question, we do well to review what it is that we must be saved from.

To be saved means to be rescued from a great evil. It means to be delivered from something that can and will harm us unless we are removed from it or it is removed from us. What do we need rescuing from?

• Political? No country tells us what to do although we are affected at times by terrorist actions.
• Physical? Certainly we are in some danger from violent crime, accidents, bad weather, poor health.
• Economic? We live in the richest country in the world.
• Religious? Live in a society that condones and promotes teachings contrary to the word of God.

Greatest dangers are those which faced the people in Jesus’ day. Those dangers cause by the . . .
• World: Focus only on the material and the temporary.
• Satan: Rebellion against God and choosing our own way.
• Sinful Nature: Enjoyment of pleasure and disregard for God’s law.

We need to be saved from sin and the consequences of sin which is finally eternal death. It is a salvation that we cannot bring about ourselves but on which we are entirely dependent on God.
That is why we turn to him and call out “Hosanna” and recognize that “The one who came in the name of the Lord” is the one God sent to save us.

What must we do to be saved from sin? Paul’s answer to the jailer is still true today, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.” Our responsibility then is to believe in who Jesus is, what he has done to save us, and how that alone will rescue us.