Saved!

[Below you'll find the text of yesterday's Palm Sunday sermon as well as live stream video of both worship services with the people and friends of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]

John 12:12-19

When it comes to disasters, natural or humanly-made, it has been an eventful week.

Tornadoes and high winds ripped through many parts of the country, including our own area, leaving some dead and many homes damaged or destroyed.

A mass shooting at a Nashville school resulted in six people being murdered, including three children.

Putin’s war on Ukraine rages on.

We gather on this Palm Sunday morning, palm fronds before us, and call out to Jesus, “Hosanna!,” which means, “Save us!”

Our cry is understandable. We need to be saved.

But the problem is that all too often, our reading of what we need to be saved from is fixed on the symptoms, rather than on the deeper issue from which all of us need to be saved.

The real issue–the deeper problem–from which we need saving is stated by the apostle John in a verse where he describes two things Christian disciples know. “We know,” John writes, “that we are children of God [that is, we have been claimed by Christ in Baptism and we have been brought to faith by the proclamation of the Gospel Word about Jesus and so, know that we are are children of God], and [we know] that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.” (1 John 5:19)

That second statement–”the whole world [or the whole cosmos] is under the control of the evil one,” the devil, may surprise some people.

Of course, the God we meet in Jesus Christ is in ultimate control of the universe. Even when Jesus went to the cross, He was in control of the moment and circumstances by which that would happen.

Of course, God created the cosmos and has died and risen to take it back and set it free of sin and death.

Of course, evil has already been defeated by Jesus Christ.

But until the day when the risen and ascended Jesus returns, the devil and the sin into which he lured our first parents (and lures us) and into which you and I are born, will have the upper hand in this fallen creation. This is why in his hymn, A Mighty Fortress, reminds us that on earth, the devil has no equal and that Jesus Christ has come to be our Champion Who fights for us and saves us from the devil.

Nonetheless, this world is now under the devil’s control. This is why the devil was able to offer Jesus “all the kingdoms of the world” if Jesus would bow down and worship the devil. (Matthew 4:8-9)

Right now, this world and we ourselves are born in bondage to sin, incapable of freeing ourselves. Even baptized believers in Jesus Christ will continue to wrestle with the sinfulness that fills us and is around us until the day we die to this world.

This is the deeper problem from which all of us need to be saved. Human beings, first created in the image of God, have been decimated, our identities, personalities, and desires completely infected and controlled by, sin and the death to which it inevitably leads. That includes you and me. All of us.

If we are going to be saved from our real problem of sin and death, the half measures you and I might try will never do the job.

We may find ways to mitigate or lessen the impact of inclement weather.

We may find the proper formulation of public policies and private actions that decrease the numbers of gun killings in our country.

We may find a way to get Putin out of Ukraine.

I pray that all of these things will happen.

And the human race actually has a decent track record when it comes to solving what I would call secondary problems like these. Polio and COVID-19 were conquered. Hilter, Mussolini, and Tojo were defeated. In little more than one-hundred years, human beings have learned to fly, light up cities, farm with incredible efficiency, and even land on the moon.

But even when God answers our prayers for protection from the weather, safety for our kids, and Putin’s removal from Ukraine, as I believe will happen, the fundamental human problem will not have been solved. No human effort ever could solve our basic human problem.

The day after these issues and others like them are resolved, the ratio of human birth to death will still be 1:1.

New outbreaks of chaos will occur.

And we will continue to run up against the intractable reality of sin and death.

All our human efforts toward saving ourselves amount to little more than putting lipstick on a pig or spraying Febreeze in a garbage dump! The pig will still be a pig and garbage will still stink.

Our continuing impulse will be to worship ourselves or things in the creation–money, power, comfort, success, sex–rather than to worship God Himself. We’ll still want to break free of any accountability to God, parents, spouses, families, friends, church, government, community, country. We’ll still dislike others who rub us the wrong way to the point of murder, whether in fact, speech, or thought. We’ll still commit adultery, whether physically or in our minds. We’ll tear others down, still covet what others have.

Our biggest problem is us.

My biggest problem is me.

Your biggest problem is you.

The crowd that greets Jesus on the first Palm Sunday five days before His crucifixion seems not to have any notion that what they most need saving from is their own sin and the death it brings.

Many know about, some actually saw, Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.

Most know of the miracles Jesus has performed.

They sense Jesus is some sort of conquering king.

Maybe, they figure, Jesus can save them from paying taxes to the Romans, from poverty, from the authority of foreign overlords.

These kinds of things are all they have in mind–it’s often all we have in mind–when shouting, “Hosanna! Jesus, save us!”

It’s no surprise then, that many of those celebrating in today’s Gospel lesson will, in a few days, disappointed that Jesus hasn’t “saved” them as they want to be saved, call for Jesus’ crucifixion.

Just like the Palm Sunday crowd, we want a king who will do exactly what we want him (or her) to do for us and not be critical of the sins we like doing.

We want kings who will save us from what we think we need saving from and leave our favorite sins alone.

We want kings who don’t call us to go to the cross with Him so that we can be saved from our old selves, so that our old selves can die on Jesus’ cross, allowing the new self to rise.

But Jesus will not be a king on our terms.

He won’t save us from little things and leave us dead in our sin, separated from God forever.

So, Jesus comes to you again this morning.

He comes to you in His Word and in the bread and in the wine.

He comes to save you.

He invades this sanctuary the way He once invaded Jerusalem, the King of all kings, come to claim all that has been lost to Him through sin.

He comes to save you from condemnation for your sin.

He comes to save you from your love of sin.

He comes to save you from death and the dominion of the devil.

He will say shortly after the events recorded in our Gospel lesson today: “Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.” (John 12:31)

The devil and sin and death have no power over those who, by the power and at the prompting of the Gospel Word about Jesus delivered to us by the Holy Spirit, turn from sin and turn to Christ, the Saving One!

As we cry our Hosannas to Jesus today, He takes all our sins upon Himself. He walks in here among us as He once walked into Jerusalem and He takes all your sins–all our sins–on Himself.

And then He goes to the cross, taking the cross we deserve and the death we deserve so that sin and death have no power over us any longer!

Sin and death have no power over you at all! Not even just a little bit! Jesus Christ died and rose to make you righteous, free of sin, clean. And when Jesus says you are clean, you are clean, fit for life with God now and for all eternity!

Jesus saves us from ourselves, moving us from the darkness and futility that marks our path on even the best and healthiest and most joyful days in this world this world can offer. And He promises that we will be with Him in the perfection of the new heaven and the new earth!

Friends, Jesus hears your cries of Hosanna–”Lord, save me!”–even when you yourself don’t fully understand what it is you need to be saved from.

Because of what He did for you on the cross, when He said, “It is finished,” I can tell you, as He commissioned His whole Church to proclaim, “Your sins are forgiven.” (John 7:48)

Your old self has been crucified and is being crucified each day as you walk with Jesus.

All your sins are forgiven, conquered by Jesus on the cross, His victory confirmed by His resurrection.

Jesus has come to us once more today to answer your prayers to be saved.

He assures you that you are saved.

You are forgiven.

You are His.

As you take refuge in Him, know that you are saved now and eternally.

Amen

Who is Jesus for Us?

[Below you'll find live stream videos for both the traditional and modern worship services of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio as well as the text of the message. Have a blessed Holy Week!]





John 12:12-19

People love to make Jesus over into their preferred image of Him. For example, an evangelical celebrity not long ago said that, despite what Jesus tells us as His disciples, turning one’s cheek to an enemy is un-Christian. (He actually said that!)

Efforts to change Jesus into a co-conspirator in our favorite sins or to reduce Him to a buddy we can control are nothing new. The Gospel of John tells us that after Jesus had miraculously fed a crowd of more than five-thousand people, the crowd wanted to turn Him into an earthly king accountable to their desires. So, Jesus went off to a mountain by Himself. (John 6:15) Jesus will not be the king the world wants. He will only be the king we need.

Today is Palm Sunday, commemorating Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on the Sunday before His suffering, crucifixion, death, and, ultimately, resurrection.

The events of this day press this question on us: Who is Jesus for us?

It’s the most important question we will ever be asked, the very question Jesus posed to His first disciples when He asked them, “Who do you say that I am?”

On that first Palm Sunday, Jesus was hailed by crowds. Because of that, there was a surface air of celebration. But Jesus was surrounded either by people who saw Him either as a buddy king to be used for their own ends or as a threat by those who, by their knowledge of Old Testament Scripture, had a sneaking suspicion of Who Jesus really was (and is) and so, wanted to get rid of Him.

According to John in today’s gospel lesson, John 12:12-19, there were two streams of crowds flowing into Jerusalem that day. There was the throng that had come there, as Jews did every year from throughout the Mediterranean basin, for the Passover. There was also a crowd that had followed Jesus from nearby Bethany, where, just a few days before, He had raised His friend Lazarus from the dead.

This confluence of people shows us how they see Jesus by their words and actions. They hail Jesus with words from Psalm 118. “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the king of Israel!” (John 12:13)

These words may seem innocent or innocuous to us. But, “Hosanna,” meaning Save, and the rest of what the crowds say had a specific meaning for the Jewish people. Historically, the words were cried out to Jewish kings who had won military victories. Palm branches too were waved during such celebrations of battles and wars won.

The message of the crowds was clear: “We’ll follow You, Jesus, as long as You do our bidding. So, re-establish the Kingdom of Israel by force. Lead us in a military battle to overthrow both Pilate and Herod. And then, give us what we want–the booty of war–as Your loyal followers.” They were itching for a fight and all they needed was for Jesus to give the orders.

But the crowds were to be disappointed. Jesus makes it clear that He hasn’t come to Jerusalem to lead an insurrection or win a military victory. John says that “Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it.” (John 12:16) When Jesus did this, you can be certain that there were groans of disappointment from some in the crowd.

In telling us about this, John cites words from Old Testament prophecy, Zechariah 9:9: “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.” Through the prophet Zechariah, who lived in the sixth century BC, God had announced that He was going to send the Savior Messiah to make all things right between God and the universe He had created.

But this Messiah would be no warrior king!

Warrior kings may temporarily change the borders of nations in this temporary universe.

But those kinds of kings can’t change people born as enemies of God into God’s friends.

Nor can they give mortal human beings everlasting life.

Nor can they make us citizens of a new and eternal kingdom in which every tear will be dried, every need will be met, every relationship healed, and every vestige of the filth of our sin will be removed from us.

The world’s conqueror-kings cannot give sinners the gracious covering of God’s own righteousness.

Only Jesus can do that.

Horses were instruments of war in the ancient world, the means by which armies killed and conquered. This is why in those days, the Jewish people, so often the victims of conquering armies, hated horses. Donkeys, on the other hand, did the work of peace. Zechariah’s prophecy said that the Messiah would not conquer humanity’s common enemies of sin, death, and darkness by violence, war, or the exercise of political power.

The Messiah would instead, humbly bring the Kingdom of God to all who believe in Him not by making war, but by the death He died for our sin on a cross and by the resurrection with which God the Father rewarded Jesus’ righteousness. Centuries before, through the prophet Isaiah, God had revealed that this would be how the Christ would conquer the reign of sin, death, and darkness over us. “We all, like sheep, have gone astray,  each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him [on Jesus, the Messiah] the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6)

Then, after offering up His sinless life to take the punishment for our sinful natures we deserve, out of His great love for all, Jesus the Messiah would give forgiveness and eternal citizenship in the Kingdom of God to all who believe in Him.

The crowds in Jerusalem for the Passover had no interest in the Kingdom of God or in eternal life.

They wanted vengeance on the Romans and the Herodians, control of their country, and prosperity. Many, like the Zealots or maybe Judas Iscariot, still joined in shouting for Jesus after their disappointment in seeing Jesus on a lowly donkey, thinking they could use Him for their purposes.

But some in Jerusalem knew that Jesus couldn’t be used. The Pharisees look at the Palm Sunday spectacle and say to each other disgustedly, “Look how the whole world has gone after him!” (John 12:19) The Pharisees know that Jesus is, as John the Baptizer called Him, “the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) They get it that Jesus is God the Son, the Word made flesh. And for them, as would become true for Pilate, Herod, the Sanhedrin, and the selfish crowds, Jesus was not a Messiah to be welcomed, worshiped, and trusted, but a threat, a threat to their way of life.

Even today, Jesus threatens us. He threatens our desire to be our own gods and our ambition to have lives focused on ourselves, our appetites, our interests, and our preferences.

The world turned against Jesus during that first Holy Week. Good Friday and Easter Sunday proved the world wrong for having done so.

Because of the death on a cross Jesus humbly faced and endured, Philippians 2:9-11 tells us “God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,  in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

This then, is Who Jesus really is: God, Savior, King, Redeemer, Who humbly bore the cross you and I deserve so that we might eternally share in His resurrection victory.

So, we come back to the question of Palm Sunday: “Who is Jesus for you?”

Jesus never sat on an earthly throne, was never serenaded by bands playing Hail to the Chief, never won a war or an Oscar or a Grammy or a Nobel Prize. But through His humble submission to death for us, He won eternity for us.

Will you daily welcome Jesus as your only Lord, your God, your King, Messiah, and Savior? Jesus tells us elsewhere: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) Follow the King, Jesus, to everlasting life with God. Amen

The King We Need (AUDIO)

Yesterday's Palm Sunday message from Living Water Lutheran Church: HERE.

The King We Need

[This message was shared during worship services with the people and friends of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio earlier today.]

John 12:12-19

In many churches, in recognition of the fact that many Christians don’t attend Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services, this day is designated not as Palm Sunday but as The Sunday of the Passion, a Sunday that remembers Christ’s suffering and death for us. I prefer to give Palm Sunday its due as a separate day with its own significance. 

Besides, if you’re interested in remembering Christ’s passion--His suffering and death--there is a whiff of His crucifixion and death amid the celebrations of Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday isn’t all sweetness and light. Don't let the crowds who shouted in adulation fool you about that!

To set the stage for what happens in today’s gospel lesson, which gives us John’s take on the first Palm Sunday, it’s important to remember what comes just before this event. In John 11, Jesus raises His friend Lazarus from the dead, the seventh and final sign John records Jesus performing.

This should have alerted people to who Jesus is. But even miracles from God can be doubted or arouse controversy. In John 11:45, we’re told that some who had witnessed Jesus bringing Lazarus back to life ran off to tell the Pharisees what had happened. The Pharisees aren’t happy, but alarmed. John 11:46 says that, along with the chief priests, they called a meeting of Judea’s religious leadership. They’re all more fearful of their Roman overlords than they are of the God Who is meeting them in Jesus. “If we let [Jesus] go on like this,” they tell each other, “everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.” (They gave little evident thought to the fact that a Messiah Who can bring people back from the dead might be able to provide them with ultimate protection from an enemy who, at best, could only kill them once.)

In John 11:49-50, Caiaphas, the high priest for the year, upbraids the rest of the leaders for worrying. The solution, he says, is simple: a way must be found to kill Jesus. “You know nothing at all!" he tells the others. "You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” In the next verse, John tells us that Caiaphas was the one who didn’t know anything: “He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them [Jews and Gentiles] together and make them one.”

So, as Jesus prepares to enter Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, there’s a plot to kill Him. The plotters, Judea’s religious cream of the crop, are clueless about the the fact that, Jesus, “the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world,” is going to the holy city with the intention, according to God’s plan, of sacrificing Himself on the cross in order to save the world from more than death in this world. He’s going to die and rise to save all who entrust themselves to Him from sin and from the more lasting and horrible death of eternal separation from God. Jesus could well have said to these leaders what He later told the Roman governor, Pilate, in John 19:11: “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.” 

Ultimately, it would be neither Jewish leaders nor crowds nor the Romans who would take Jesus’ life. In Luke 23:46, we’re told “Jesus called out with a loud voice, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.’ When he had said this, he breathed his last.” Jesus died at precisely the moment when God had decided He would die. The leaders didn’t know it, but they were doing the will of God against their wills.

In our lives, we often think that we’re in control. But, whether we perceive it or not, God is still in charge. We may endure tragedies and heartbreaks, as the folks down South whose lives were upended by tornadoes yesterday, but God is bound to ultimately bring His good out of bad. God will use Good Fridays to bring Easters for those who place their hope in Him alone! In fact, in The Small Catechism, Martin Luther shows us that Good Fridays and Easters are the prevailing pattern of the disciple's life. The life of daily repentance and renewal it commends is nothing other than the daily crucifixion of self so that Christ can give us the forgiveness that brings new life in Him.

Good Friday and Easter loom in the background as Jesus and His disciples enter Jerusalem at the beginning of our gospel lesson. Please go to it, John 12:12-19.

Verses 12-13: “The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival [the festival is Passover] heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, ‘Hosanna!’ [meaning Save or rescue us, Savior] ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ‘Blessed is the king of Israel!’”

The words and the palm branches used to welcome Jesus help us to understand that while the people see Jesus as a king, they want Him to be an earthly king who uses military might to save them from the oppression of the Romans. Among God's people, palm branches were associated with the welcome given to military conquerors. 

Jesus is the King--the Messiah, Lord of heaven and earth. But He doesn’t conquer by force of arms, by mob rule, or by using a democratic vote. Jesus’ authority isn’t derived “from the consent of the governed.” As Jesus told the Roman governor Pilate after He was arrested: “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.” Instead He conquers by a servant love that dies for us. And the enemies He conquers are the common enemies that live in every human soul: sin, death, darkness.

Jesus won’t be our king on our terms. We can’t come to Jesus and say, as some people do, “Jesus, I’ll follow You if You do so and so.” Jesus becomes our Lord only when we entrust ourselves to Him, allowing Him to crucify our sinful selves so that our new selves, remade in Christ’s image, can rise.

Verses 14 to 16: “Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written: ‘Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.’ At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.”

Jesus isn’t shy about claiming His kingship. He says in John 10:30, "I and the Father are one." And just as foretold in the messianic prophecy in Zechariah 9:9, Jesus rides into Jerusalem to claim His kingdom on a donkey. God's people generally didn't like horses. Horses were the engines that moved the chariots used by armies that had threatened and conquered them for generations. By contrast, donkeys were seen as noble mounts worthy for a king.

Despite the prophecy and the symbolism though, not even Jesus’ closest followers understood Jesus at this moment. 

We shouldn't be too hard on them. Even today, I find Jesus' ways and will difficult to understand. There have been times in my years of following Jesus when it has seemed to me that Jesus has blocked from my life the very things that I thought would bring me happiness. Only in heaven will we more fully understand Jesus and His mysterious ways. 

But anyone, Christian or not, who tries to understand Jesus apart from His death and resurrection or apart from His call to follow Him because He is the way to life with God, they are missing the point. 

On the first Palm Sunday, some may have understood, though most didn’t, that in meeting Jesus, they were facing God in the flesh. Ignorant or not, they all disregarded His signs and the substance of His teaching, refusing Jesus’ call to follow Him through death to eternal life.

Verses 17-18: “Now the crowd that was with [Jesus] when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him.”

Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead was seen as an interesting use of power. The crowds hailed Jesus as king because of a sign, not because of what the sign pointed to.Jesus had power; now the people hoped to draft Jesus as king to do their bidding. 

But within days, another Jerusalem crowd would demand Jesus’ execution. 

People can turn on God when they don’t like the way He does His job as Lord of the universe. A woman I knew years ago became bitter with God because, her mother, in her late eighties, died after long years of illness. “I’m mad at God for taking my mom from me,” she said. I wanted to ask the woman if she would like it if her mother, a believer now free from suffering and in the presence of God, would be brought back to this earthly life by God just to make her happy. I bit my tongue. But it’s questions like these we need to ask ourselves when God disappoints us.

In the midst of the Palm Sunday joys and celebrations, our gospel lesson ends on an ominous note: “So the Pharisees said to one another, ‘See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!’”

Jesus is seen as a threat by the Pharisees. And, in truth, Jesus is a threat to us whenever the things valued by this world--security, wealth, health, family--become more important to us than welcoming Jesus to rule over our lives. Only Jesus and not the world can bring us peace with God, the presence of God with us through all the times of this life, and life with God now and in eternity. The call of Palm Sunday is to trust in Jesus, letting Him forgive us our sins, letting Him guard us from separation from God, and letting Him give us everlasting life with God.

I look forward to being with you on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday, so that, once again, we can celebrate Jesus not as the king we want when sin has its way with us, but as the King we need when we let Him reign over us. 

As we immerse ourselves deeply into the story of Christ's death and resurrection this Holy Week and remember how Christ did all of this for sinful human beings like you and me, God can incite us to sing the old Lenten hymn with a deeper sense of awe and gratitude and faith: "Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble." Amen

[I'm the pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]