Palm Sunday – March 29, 2026

Grace to you and peace from God, our Father, from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

The prophet Zechariah called Jesus a king. He says, behold, your king is coming

to you, mounted on a donkey.

And the Palm Sunday crowd also identified Jesus as a king.

They shouted, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the king of Israel.

Later that week, Pilate asked Jesus, are you the king of the Jews?

And Jesus answered, in essence, yes, but not like the kings of this world.

The soldiers put on Jesus a scarlet robe, a crown of thorns, and a reed in his hand.

And they fell down and they mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews.

Pilate brought Jesus out to the Jewish leaders and Pilate said,

behold your king and they responded, we have no king but Caesar. Really?

Pilate wrote an inscription, put it on the cross and it read King of the Jews.

Finally, the thief on the cross looked to Jesus and said, Jesus,

remember me when you come into your kingdom.

We will learn today that Jesus is a king, but not like the kings of this world.

He does not come drawing attention to himself, but he comes in humility.

He does not come to be served by his subjects, but he comes to serve them.

He comes as a righteous king having salvation.

Scripture teaches that earthly authority has been established by God.

It is God has instituted governing authorities.

And so Romans 13 makes it clear that rulers are given for our good.

Especially in this fallen world that we live in, they keep peace and order in the land.

They are to punish evil to reward good and defend those who do right they are

to protect life and we pray for our governing authorities that there may be

peace in our land when there is peace in the land then there is peace in the

home and also in the church.

Unfortunately, some government leaders abuse their authority.

They force people to do things that are immoral.

Rulers act unjustly and they seek power for themselves at the expense of others.

They abuse power in order to dominate their own agenda.

History bears witness to this. Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler,

Mao Zedong, used their authority not for the good of the people,

but for their own gain in bringing, and they brought from that immense suffering and death.

They unjustly killed millions of people.

The abuse of authority is not limited to the nations. Authority is abused within

marriage when one spouse verbally or physically abuses the other.

Authority is also abused in the workplace when employees are treated unfairly.

And then authority is also abused in everyday relationships when one person

seeks to control another for selfish reasons or gossips about them to gain their own prestige.

This is the nature of our sinful flesh. Deep down, we grasp for power. We seek our own way.

We want people to serve us instead of us serving them in love.

Jesus speaks against this. He says to his disciples, you know that the rulers

of the Gentiles lord it over their subjects.

And then he says, it shall not be so among you.

He's pretty firm in this. Talking to his disciples, It shall not be so among you.

Jesus does not want his disciples to abuse authority like the pagan Gentiles the other day.

They should not be like the kingdoms of the world, but they should reflect Christ.

And so also with us, the abuse of authority shall not be so among us.

We are different from the pagan world. We love and serve one another.

We reflect the light of Christ.

Look at how Jesus enters Jerusalem. There is no horse, there's no chariot,

there's no weapons, and there's no army.

There is instead just a donkey, a lowly animal.

And there is a humble entrance. The king of kings does not come in outward glory, but in meekness.

And yet the people recognize something. They spread their cloaks on the ground.

They cut off the palm branches from the trees. And they quoted Psalm 118.

Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna means saved

now. He has come to deliver them.

But what kind of salvation or deliverance really were they expecting?

Were they expecting Jesus to deliver them from the Romans?

Or were they expecting salvation from him?

We're really not given to know.

But we know why.

We know that he processed into Jerusalem to bring salvation to a fallen world.

Who is Jesus? The prophet Zechariah said, Behold, your king is coming to you,

righteous and having salvation. Jesus is the sinless one. He's righteous.

He is holy. He is the eternal Son of God.

Earthly kings make promises. They can pass laws. They can attempt to protect and provide.

And these things are all good and they are necessary in society.

But earthly kings cannot save you from sin. They cannot deliver you from death.

They cannot give you eternal life. Jesus can and Jesus does.

Jesus comes to give you his righteousness. He comes to take your sin upon himself.

He comes to rescue you from the devil and to open the kingdom of heaven for

you and for all who believe.

And how does he accomplish this? Not by earthly power, but in humility.

He comes with gentleness. He comes not to be served, but to serve.

Earthly kings expect their subjects to die for them, but Jesus comes to die for you.

Jesus rides into Jerusalem not to sit on a golden throne, but to be nailed to the cross, a throne.

He enters Jerusalem not to go into a palace, but into suffering.

He enters Jerusalem not to be crowned with a crown of gold or the crown of thorns.

His battle is not against flesh and blood, but it's against sin,

death, and the devil for you.

Jesus enters Jerusalem in order to offer himself up as the righteous sacrifice.

The Epistle lesson from Philippians 2 says that Jesus humbled himself and became

obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

The spotless Lamb of God offers himself as the Passover Lamb,

sacrificed for the sins of the whole world.

He bears the wrath of God that we deserve. He takes upon us our sin and guilt.

And the sinless one dies for us sinners.

On Good Friday, the world sees everything that's taken place and says,

what God would send his son to be crucified on the cross? They don't get it.

Faith, on the other hand, sees the king reigning from the cross.

And the inscription above his head speaks the truth.

He is a king, righteous and having salvation. He is our redeemer king.

Jesus died on Good Friday and yet on the third day he rose from the dead.

The resurrection we will celebrate next Sunday. The good news is that death

is defeated, the devil is overcome, and heaven is open for you and all who believe.

Even now, Jesus reigns in his church, not by coercion, not by force, not by threats.

He reigns by his grace and mercy.

He does not come to you with demands, but with gifts. He does not threaten you

with punishment, but he speaks forgiveness.

He does not burden you, but he comes to give you life and salvation.

You were brought into his kingdom through the waters of holy baptism.

There you were united with his death and the resurrection. You are now a citizen of his kingdom.

It is a kingdom now to this world.

And now as his people, you live differently than the world.

Not perfectly, but differently. You live by faith toward God and love toward the neighbor.

You reflect the character of your king. Others see Christ in you.

You live lives of humility. of mercy and service toward others.

You avoid sin and reflect the life of love, joy, and peace.

Your King comes to you today, just as He once came to Jerusalem on a donkey,

so He comes to you today in humble ways.

He comes through His Word, spoken and preached.

He comes to you through bread and wine, giving you His body and blood for the

forgiveness of all your sins.

Soon, we will sing the Sanctus. It's after the proper preface Before the Lord's

Prayer And we will sing Hosanna, Hosanna,

Hosanna in the highest Blessed is he, blessed is he Blessed is he that cometh

in the name of the Lord Hosanna,

Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest,

The Palm Sunday crowd welcomed Jesus As he rode into Jerusalem Singing Hosanna

And we will welcome him as well This morning singing the very same words,

Jesus rode into Jerusalem in order to save his people from their sins By dying

upon the cross And he comes this morning giving you the blessings of the cross

And resurrection here from this altar,

He comes to serve you with forgiveness, life, and salvation.

And we receive these gifts. We respond to him with our offering and with our

thanksgiving and praise.

The kings of this world rule by power, but Jesus rules by grace.

The kings of this world are political, whereas Jesus' church is holy.

The kings of this world seek peace among the nations, whereas within the church

we receive eternal peace with God.

The kings of this world require you to serve them but Jesus serves you with

the gospel and sacrament and we then serve him willingly and joyfully.

The kings of this world demand payment from you but Jesus is the one who paid the debt for our sin.

The kings of this world threaten you with punishment if you disobey the law,

and rightly so, that's their office, but Jesus bore the punishment of your sins upon the cross.

The kings of this world offer you earthly protection, but Jesus gives you eternal life.

Jesus, yes, Jesus is a king, but not like the kings of this world.

He is a righteous king who comes to save.

Dearly beloved, as a baptized believer in Christ, honor your father and your

mother and all other authorities.

Submit to them and respect them. Speak well of them and pray.

Always pray for our leaders. Do not

abuse others in your various vocations But love and serve them Remain faithful

to God and his word And reflect the light of Christ in your life The thief on

the cross said to Jesus Remember me when you come into your kingdom And Jesus said,

today you shall be with me in paradise And the same is for you,

Someday your king will bring you to himself and there you will see him face to face.

Then you will enter fully into his heavenly kingdom,

a kingdom with no sin, no suffering, and no death, a kingdom of perfect peace,

a kingdom that will have no end.

God grant this. Amen.