Matthew 21:1-11

When I was a child growing up in a Methodist Church, I knew of three religious holidays. These were Christmas, Easter, and believe it or not Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday was the time that we sang the song which went: "Hosanna, loud hosanna the little children sang, Through pillared court and temple the lovely anthem rang." That song also says that "the children sang their praises the simplest and the best."

My Sunday School teachers took their cue from that song's description of children singing. In Sunday School we would make palm branches from green construction paper and march all around the church singing and shouting "Hosanna, hosanna" as if we were in that crowd on that first Palm Sunday. Once a local farmer even brought us a donkey to touch and sit on. So when that song was sung in worship, all the children could see the pillared courts just as they were pictured in our Sunday School books, And each of us could imagine, "waving the branch of a palm tree high in my hand," and singing "Hosanna, hosanna! Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord."

This is a Christian education success story. You see, we knew about Christmas because of Santa Clause. We knew about Easter because of the Easter Bunny. But we knew about Palm Sunday because of Jesus.

All in all, Palm Sunday is a very important holiday for the church. It is a time when Jesus' disciples hailed him as King. It is a chance for us as disciples of Christ today to acclaim Christ as King.

But there is a danger in the way we worship on Palm Sunday. It is the danger that we will forget why Jesus came to Jerusalem to begin with, and as a result we will forget why we sing hosannas. Often times we sing hosannas on Palm Sunday and then we sing "Christ the Lord has Risen Today" the very next Sunday. The events of Good Friday are not on our personal religious calendars. Oh Jesus death is mentioned. It is not that we completely ignore it. We just move past that fact as quickly as we can to get to the resurrection.

The problem is; we don't like to dwell on unpleasant things. Sometimes we don't even admit to ourselves that unpleasant things exist. When I was in college I had a bright red button with bold black letters which said, "Stop Torture." I had gotten it from a political rights group. It was part of their campaign to stop torture in foreign countries. One day, out of the blue, someone asked me if I was part of the animal rights group on campus. I said no and gave them a puzzling look. He said, "I saw your button and thought you might be. I said, "It means stop torturing humans." Then he gave me this strange look and said, "No one is torturing humans."

We don't want to admit the pain and the unpleasantness of life. We would rather close our eyes to it the way we do in a scary movie. We allow ourselves to think that people torture animals, but we don't allow ourselves to think that people torture humans. As a result we often overlook those who are suffering and in pain. There is something to be said for accentuating the positive and eliminating the negative. But when it causes us to overlook those in need, the ones God is calling us to help, the lost, the hungry the sick it runs contrary to God's purpose.

Because of this tendency to overlook the negative we sometimes overlook Jesus' suffering and death. We get all caught up in the joy of singing praises to Jesus as he triumphantly enters Jerusalem. And we forget that Jesus came to Jerusalem to die. So when we get to holy week we put our hands over our eyes. And say to the person next to us, "Tell me when it is over." It may be unpleasant to think about, but Jesus did die. People drove nails through his wrists and feet. The nailed him to a cross. Jesus experienced terror and pain. What's most important is that he experienced that pain as an atonement for our sins and for the sins of the world. Jesus' death is a fact of our salvation that we must never overlook.

So, how can we joyfully sing hosannas in the face of Christ's suffering? The people in our story seem to have been grossly ignorant of the facts. If they had known, as we do, why Jesus came to Jerusalem, they would not be singing a song of triumph. You see, they thought Jesus would come in and take over the state. Right before this Jesus had to correct his disciples for thinking that his kingdom would appear immediately. (Luke 19:11) The prophets had said the Messiah would come riding on a donkey. So when the people saw Jesus on that Donkey, they though he was coming to lead an uprising. They thought he would ride right up to Herod's palace and sit on his throne. Then he would order the Romans out of his newly established kingdom. The crowd was partially right. Jesus was and is the Messiah. But they expected a Messiah who would rule and earthly kingdom.

Jesus didn't come to Jerusalem to sit on a throne. Jesus came to Jerusalem to hang on a cross. He said so to his disciples several times. He told them plainly. He said the son of man must suffer and die. How can we see ourselves shouting with those people? How can we joyfully sing their song? After all it was Jesus' suffering that saves us.

It makes me want to say, "How dare we sing hosannas in the face of Christ's suffering!" But I realize that I am saying the same kind of thing the Pharisees in our lesson said. The Pharisees tried to keep Jesus' disciples from singing hosannas back then. Can we try to stop Jesus' disciples from singing hosannas today? The Pharisees said, "Jesus how can you let them do this? They will blaspheme! Stop this crowd, silence them! Teacher, rebuke your disciples."

What did Jesus say? He said "If these were silent, the stones themselves would shout." If the voices of humans will not shout: "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord," then God will give the stones voices and they will shout. By the will of Almighty God who made both voices and stones, hosannas will be sung and Christ will be proclaimed as King! Mere human that I am who am I to stand in the way of the providence of God!

So what are we to do? Should we revert to our old ways of overlooking Christ's death. Should we forget Good Friday and wipe it off our religious calendars. Can we; forget why Jesus came to Jerusalem and just blend in with the crowd of misled pilgrims? Can we blindly yell "Blessed is the King who comes to sit on Herod's throne."

How can we; how is it possible for us to sing hosannas on Palm Sunday when we know that Christ's passion is just down the road? Perhaps a clue to this answer is in, of all places, the rock opera "Jesus Christ Superstar." Near the beginning of the opera Jesus is riding a donkey into Jerusalem. The people are singing Hosannas. And they are saying, "Hey J.C., J.C. won't you fight for me." Then the Pharisees tell Jesus to make the people stop and he tells them that if they were silent the stones themselves would sing. When the crowd starts singing hosannas again they are singing, "Hey J.C., J.C. won't you die for me?"

Maybe we should celebrate the fact that Jesus came to Jerusalem to die. That is precisely what the Bible tells us to do. Paul wrote, "(Christ) humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which 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 confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."(Philippians 2:8-11) In other words Jesus is worthy of praise precisely because he went to Jerusalem to die.

This is not just an approach to Palm Sunday, it is an approach to all of life. Jesus' suffering was necessary to win our salvation. Once we open our eyes to the suffering of Christ we see him as Lord more clearly than before. Every knee shall bow and all shall shout "Hosanna!" because he died. In Christ we can look at suffering and see something beautiful. So look at the suffering around you. Open your eyes to it, as unpleasant as that may be. Then hand it over to God. And God in Christ will turn that sorrow into shouts of joy.

Palm Sunday 30 AD: Jesus and his disciples ended their long journey to Jerusalem. Along the way Jesus healed people and taught at length about the Kingdom that was to come. And people believed. They believed his words of grace and truth. They believed that the miracles he worked were from God above. They believed in him and hoped that he was the Messiah who had come from God to save them.

And when Jesus arrived at Jerusalem, he didn't disappoint the crowds. He acquired a donkey and rode into town just as the prophets had said the Messiah would. And the people responded in kind. They turned that little pony ride into a great victory parade. They sang and chanted, "Hosanna" which is a shout of joy which means "Save us!" Other people heard the commotion and said "who is this?" Jesus' followers replied, "This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth."

That is how it should be! Jesus riding in humility, but at the same time being praised and blessed. We Christians know the joy and blessing of worshipping and glorifying Jesus. And we long to hear the crowds of our day shout "Save us" to Jesus. We want them to know the joy of worshipping Jesus.

Palm Sunday morning, 30 A.D.

I don't need to tell you what happened the following Friday. The prophets had foretold it hundreds of years before. Isaiah spoke of how God's servant must suffer. John the Baptist had called Jesus the "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." How does a lamb take away sins? By being sacrificed of course. Even Jesus had warned his disciples that he must suffer and die.

But the way it all happened is what is so shocking. If bad men had just grabbed Jesus from the crowds and shot him or something, it might have been easier to take. But it was his own followers who betrayed him. First the disciples would not stay awake with him. Then Judas betrayed him with a kiss. But the last straw was the crowd. They had cried "Hosanna!" on Sunday, but now on Friday they shouted "Crucify!"

And Pilot, public servant of the Roman Republic, did as they wished. Pilot had tried to get Jesus off peacefully. But to avoid a riot, he gave in. They nailed Jesus to a cross. His body was broken, and his blood was shed. And he died for our sins.

Why? Why did that happen? There are a lot of answers that could be given. You are probably thinking of them now. "Jesus died because humans, when given a choice between sin and righteousness, chose sin." "Jesus died because we could not repay God for our sins so God gave us his Son to atone for our evil." "The crowds turned on Jesus because they had misunderstood the kind of Messiah he was." "Jesus died because he loved us enough to give himself for our salvation."

Those are all good answers. They are all theologically and historically accurate. But they miss the point of the question. They are answers to all the little "whys?" I am asking a different question.

You see Jesus was the last person who should have been on that cross. Pilot should have been there. Judas should have been there. The crowds should have been there. Even the disciples should have been there. All of us should have been there, not him. All Jesus had ever done in his life was bless and heal people. He was the last person who should have been betrayed. I am not asking why God allowed Jesus to suffer, I am asking why God lets the innocent like Jesus suffer; period?

Palm Sunday 1994 Piedmont Alabama. God's people at Goshen United Methodist Church were singing hosannas as it should be. The Small rural church was putting on an Easter musical which included the children's choir. In the middle of the service a storm hit and the electricity was knocked out. Even though the taped music they were singing to was stopped the choir kept singing hosannas. Then the ceiling and walls began to fall in as a tornado hit. 20 people were killed among them was Hannah the 4 year old daughter of the Rev. Kelly Clem. Rev. Clem told her story Guideposts magazine. But why!? Why does God allow the Hannahs of this world who are praising God to suffer?

October 10, 1991 late in the evening was the beginning of an ordeal that helped teach me part of the answer to this question. Mary, my daughter who was barely one year old, became sick. The illness was severe enough that we called her doctor and took her to the emergency room. We all quickly realized that was there was something seriously wrong of a neurological nature. The doctors decided that a blood sample needed to be taken to discover the exact nature of the illness.

Now, a one year old's arms and hands are the cutest things in the world. They fat and plump and dimpled. But they are a living nightmare to even the most experienced pediatric I.V. nurse. At first they tried unsuccessfully to take blood from her arms. Then they decided to try the veins in the back of her hands. And all through the successive attempts to find a vein I was the one holding Mary down.

As she screamed I wondered what she must be thinking. "Make them go away Daddy. Why are they doing this to me Daddy. Why doesn't Daddy do something to make these mean people stop. Why is Daddy holding me down while they do this?"

The next morning in the doctor's office Mary pointed to the bruises on the back of her hands. She couldn't talk, she was barely a year old, but it was like she was trying to say, "Look what they did to me Daddy." If I could have explained it to her I would have. If she had been capable of understanding, I would have helped her realize the necessity of her suffering. But all I could do was kiss the boo boos and hold her close.

Why does God let the innocent suffer? I don't know. I am too little to comprehend such things. Why does it seem that my Heavenly Father is holding me down while mean people poke me and drive nails through my Saviors hands? I can't tell. But I know that I would not let Mary suffer if it were not necessary for some greater good. And God is a much better father than I am, so he would not let me suffer needlessly.

I don't have the answer to that big "Why?" - "Why do the innocent suffer?" But that is O.K. because God does have the answer. God tries to explain it to me in his Word, but I am not capable of completely understanding. When it's all over my Heavenly Father kisses the boo boos. And he holds me real close.

If you ever ask "why?" and can't find the answer, that's O.K. Just remember God's love. God loves us enough to die for us even though we betray him. And God would never let anything happen to us that wasn't for a good purpose. When you are suffering and it seems that God is allowing it, know that it is a means to a blessing. After all, if God had not let mean men hold his Son, Jesus, down and pierce his hands, we would not have a Savior now would we? And that is what this bread and this cup are all about. God's love and care for us presented in a way that we can see but not fully understand.

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The Bible: it is a common everyday object. If you are at all like me you have a dozen copies laying around the house plus tape and electronic versions. But it was not always like that. For most of the years since Jesus� birth the Bible bas been and expensive object. Before movable type came to Europe Bibles had to be hand copies and were hence rare and expensive.

As a result reading the Bible, much less owning one, was beyond most people�s abilities. So they would go to church to hear the Bible read. In fact most of the Bible was written to be read aloud. One of the traditions that grew out of this reality was the reading of the passion narrative.

At various times during holy week the whole story of Jesus� trial and death were read. In line with that tradition that is what we will do today. We will read the entire story of Jesus trial and death from the Gospel according to Matthew. In short we will allow the Bible to preach the sermon this morning as tit bears witness to the suffering and death of Jesus our redeemer. And to give the message time to soak in, we will stop at points in the passage to sing a few verses of an appropriate hymn.

1st Lesson: Matthew 26:30-56

Open your "Cyber Hymnal" and sing: "I Stand Amazed in the Presence" (Verses 1 & 2)

2nd Lesson: Matthew 26:57-75

Open your "Cyber Hymnal" and sing: "What Wondrous Love is This" (Verses 1 & 2)

3rd Lesson: Matthew 27:1-31

Open your "Cyber Hymnal" and sing: �Go to Dark Gethsemane� (Verse 2)

4th Lesson: Matthew 27:32-50

Open your "Cyber Hymnal" and sing: "O Love Divine, What Hast Thou Done" (Verses 1 & 2)

5th Lesson: Matthew 27:51-54