St. John 12:12-19
Divine Service
Everybody Loves a Parade

Dear brothers and Sisters in Christ:

While Mary and I lived in the Detroit area, my sister-in-law would take our children to the annual Hudson’s Thanksgiving Day parade.  It didn’t matter what the weather was; they went to the parade.  Often it was cold, occasionally it would be raining or even snowing, but they went anyway.  Everyone loves a parade – and everyone wants to be physically present for one.  Better yet, everyone would love to be the guest of honor in the parade.  For the Thanksgiving Day parades, that star is Santa Claus, arriving in town to set up for all of the sales before Christmas.

In our text today from John 12, we have a picture of a parade.  The crowds don’t throw ticker tape, but they wave palms.  A brass band doesn’t play Sousa, but choruses chant psalms.  The honoree is not riding in a Cadillac convertible, but on the back of a donkey.  This is a parade unlike any that you’ve ever seen.  It’s truly a parade for a king—in fact, for the King!  But he is a King who isn’t what the crowds expect.  The crowd appears to glorify this King in the procession.  But the fact is that this is just the start of a weeklong procession that will ultimately lead to the King’s suffering and death—and ultimately to his fullest glorification.  For

CHRIST’S GLORIFIED PROCESSION INTO JERUSALEM ON PALM SUNDAY LED TO HIS TRUE GLORIFICATION ON THE CROSS.

The ancient world treated these ‘parades’ differently than we do today.  We commonly hold a procession to celebrate an event – like the traditional Thanksgiving Day parades, or the St. Patrick’s Day parades in New York City and other communities.  Occasionally, we do have a parade to honor an individual, like the ticker tape parades that happen in New York City.  In the ancient world, these processions were almost exclusively staged to honor a given individual, often a conqueror.  They could be given either by the conquered land or as a celebration when the conqueror – the king or the general – returned home, or in both places.  They would throw flowers and leafy branches before his path.  They would reach out their hands in hopes of touching this man they considered to be a near- or even a half-god.  It’s a procession of glorification.  Indeed, the intent of such processions in the ancient was to glorify rulers and generals

In our lesson, the crowd appears to offer similar glorification of Jesus: ‘The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.  So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him.’  Palm branches are an expression of nationalistic homage to royalty.  These were not just what was something convenient that they found near the road.  These were symbolic of the royal house of Israel.  To use them in Jesus’ procession was to acknowledge him as King – the true King of Israel entering his capitol.  And then they proclaim Kingly attributes to Jesus ‘crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”  This is not just a parade of celebration.  This is an ancient procession of a conqueror entering the town.

And Jesus seems to accept all of these honors and titles.  He had sent two of His disciples ahead to secure a young colt for Him to ride as he entered the town.  (Mark 11:1-3)  And riding a mule, not a stallion, was the traditional way for the king to enter Jerusalem to be crowned.  This was how David had ordered Solomon to enter for his coronation, and that tradition had continued while there had been kings in the ancient land of Israel.  (Cf. 1 Kings 1:33–34, 38) And Zechariah had prophesied that the king would come to Jerusalem in just such a manner: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”  (Zechariah 9:9)

From the size of the crowds as Jesus entered Jerusalem, one would assume that the entire city was welcoming Him with open arms.  And not just the people of Jerusalem, but from the entire region, for “The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness.”  Even with the Passover was approaching, these people had stayed with Jesus and were continuing to tell of the miraculous things that they had seen: the blind given sight and the dead raised to life!

This crowd was certainly more than just the 12 disciples.  It was more than just the true disciples – the believers.  It was more than just those who wanted to be near the King.  Yet, not all of these people were there for the spiritual gifts Jesus could give, but the reason “the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign.”  And it also included Jesus’ enemies: “the Pharisees said to one another, ‘You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.’”

Jesus’ procession into Jerusalem and the very purpose for his coming to earth is misunderstood, even by His disciples!  We read: “His disciples did not understand these things at first.”  The disciples, really, are still expecting Jesus to establish an earthly kingdom – to become the heir of David on this earth – to re-establish the Kingdom of Israel as it had been under King David.  The crowd, on the other hand, was expecting to see a military commander, someone announcing that He has conquered Jerusalem and is kicking the hated Romans out. 

So often we, too, misunderstand Jesus mission to Earth.  We read about the miraculous healings that He did, and we wish to be healed of our earthly ills.  If we pray hard enough, maybe it will happen – Nah!  We read about His bringing the dead back to life, and that makes our mourning for our loved ones deeper rather than soothing us.  We continue to see in Jesus the god we want, rather than the God who is.  Yes, He is capable of healing.  Yes, He is capable of bringing the dead back to life.  But, He does not do these things on our command.  He does what is best for us, not what we demand of Him. 

Jesus procession into Jerusalem was not so that he could be lauded as King.  He did not ride in to be acknowledged as the military conqueror of Israel.  The Romans were the government.  Caesar was truly the lawful earthly ruler, to whom the people of Israel owed tribute.  Jesus had no intention of changing that.  He had not come to establish an earthly kingdom.  His entry into Jerusalem was not so that He could be fawned over, as would a normal conqueror, but His mission was to die on the cross.  His glory was not in the acclaim of the crowd standing there cheering Him, but to die on the cross and by that to glorify God. 

We recognize that Jesus’ glory occurred in His death on the cross.  Our frail human intellect struggles with this.  We can only know that this is true by the faith given to us by the Holy Spirit.  Our human logic tells us that to die as a criminal is not glory; to die as punishment is not glory.  To die at the young age of 33 is not glorious.  Our logic sees no glory in Jesus’ death.  But through the gift of faith, we can at least acknowledge the glory therein, even as we admit that we cannot fully understand.

Jesus came to earth was to redeem us sinners.  Even in the middle of this procession where he was the star, Jesus could still say: “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.”  (John 12:47)  Jesus knew that God’s plan of salvation of mankind required what was ahead of Him.  He knew that His death upon the cursed tree was the payment needed to redeem mankind.  His will conformed to the Father’s on this.  In order to redeem mankind from the sin that began with Adam and Eve, Jesus must die upon the cross.  Even as He entered Jerusalem on what we refer to as ‘Palm Sunday,’ His soul was troubled by what lay ahead.

Jesus death for our sin was not something that could be easily accomplished.  He could not do it riding in the procession on that donkey.  He had to accomplish it on the cross.  Our lesson occurred on Sunday – the first day of the week in the Jewish calendar.  Jesus knew that on Friday, He would be hanging on the cross.  He was human; he feared death as any human – His soul was troubled.  Yet, He is still God and the weight of punishment that was facing Him on that Friday – just four days away – was enormous.  He would carry the punishment for the sin of every person who ever lived – yours, mine, our forefathers and our descendants to and from all generations.

Jesus went forward with God’s plan of salvation.  He hung on the cross on that Friday.  This is the most glorious moment – this is when His glory is made known.  This was the culmination of all of the prophecies of the Old Testament.  “When Jesus was glorified, then [the disciples] remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.”  Through His glory – His death on the cross – we have been reconciled to God.  He HAS carried our sins onto that cross with Him, and through that we have forgiveness before God. 

The disciples remembered when Jesus had been glorified.  Jesus wanted it that way.  He had told them that they would remember after His death, and it was so.  He has told us that we are forgiven, through His death and resurrection.  That too, is so.  And the day before His death on the cross, he celebrated the Last Supper with His special 12 disciples.  In that, He established the Lord’s Supper that we celebrate today.  Through this meal, we are strengthened in our faith, the faith that clings to God’s Word of truth, even when our human logic cannot comprehend it.

We know which parade had the true glory.  It was not on Palm Sunday.  It occurred on Friday, as Jesus and the two thieves were led up the hill called Golgotha.  There Jesus came into the glory of His Father – for our sake.  There the King was put to death for his subjects – for us.  That is the glory of Christ, our King. 

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.  Amen

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