Palm Sunday | Fr. Samuel Mbabaali

Let us pray. We thank you, Lord, that you're

giving us another opportunity to gather around these stories, to

gather around your Son, Jesus Christ, to behold him, to look

at him. He, our King and Savior, grant

us freshness even today. Amen.

Yeah. History teaches us that one

portrait is never enough. For instance, the life of

Abraham Lincoln, our president, is an example.

It is quite striking that in the earlier portraits of his life is

shown just as a a clean and composed lawyer.

But the portraits later in his life, especially around the

Civil War, they show another person, a different man.

His face is lined and the eyes are heavy with burden.

Some Civil War portraits emphasize his strength and his

resolve. They emphasize the kind of

leader that the nation needed during such a time of crisis.

But others capture his sadness and his fatigue, laden under the

burden of responsibility. And historians dramatically try

to argue that his appearance changed over time.

He looked at different man, worn out and even beyond his age.

And in fact, if you place the portraits side by side, indeed

you would think this is a different man.

But it's not. He's the same man.

Rather, the different portraits cover various aspects about his

life and personality as a man of strength, as a man of suffering,

sometimes his leadership or his humanity.

So it's the same person can be portrayed differently, but if

you look at all the portraits then you can get a clear

complete picture of that person. I invite you to the Gospel

reading according to Matthew chapter 21 from verse one up to

Matthew 21 · chapter mention

10 and here we are given 3 images of this man, Jesus Christ

our Lord and King. We are presented in different

scenes and different angles, each revealing something about

this particular King, Jesus Christ.

We are shown 3 portraits. We are shown the portrait of the

sovereign King, the portrait of the humble king, and the

portrait of the celebrated King which we are going to be

examining in this sermon. So in the first scene we look at

this sovereign King before anything starts, as Jesus is

entering into Jerusalem, he shows us something surprising

about himself already, about his kingship.

Just as someone who is a director of a drama, he knows

everything even before the stage and the cameras are set, all the

details of the scene and the movement and the lines.

The director knows about all those details.

Everything is carefully planned by the director.

This is what we see in verse one to three.

Jesus sends out the disciples ahead of him as if he already

knew what everything that was going to happen.

He knows where the required animals are.

He tells them in verse 2 going to the village in front of you

and immediately you will find a donkey tied and a coat with her

and tie them and bring them to me.

He also know what the people in the town are going to respond to

the disciples for he says in verse three, if anyone says

anything to you, you shall say the Lord needs them and he will

send them at once. So Matthew reports that the

story, the mission, unfolded exactly as Jesus had said.

Jesus knows exactly how the events will unfold.

There is nothing that is random or accidental.

So the King is in control of the events, He's directing the

events. He's a king in complete control.

Even in the small details, he's in complete control.

And the sovereignity is further revealed in his title of

reference, the Lord. In Jesus's days, this title was

reserved for a master, such as a slave owner or even a ruler.

So by such reference, Jesus indicates the fact that indeed

is the real owner of the animals.

But nevertheless, if I were the disciples, I would find several

reasons as to why not to obey this command that Jesus gives.

First, the instructions were immediate in a sense that they

raised the various questions. Why is He sending for this

particular code and why now He has never given us such a

command And why is this saying this thing abruptly?

He has not given us a preamp about anything.

Often times we struggle with instructions to trust them if

they don't come with explanations.

We often need clarity before we obey.

But Jesus in this case gives direction without full

reasoning. The Master often does that with

our life. But apart from that, the

instructions are also risky. Imagine untying someone else's

animal and you merely say the Lord needs them.

That seems not enough. Fear of others and how they will

perceive us sometimes weakens our trust.

Sometimes obedience to the sovereign King puts us in

socially awkward situations and even risky situations.

But apart from that, the instructions also need immediate

attention. Jesus does not say Think about

it. When you are ready, find me an

animal. He gives a task that demands

prompt obedience, and several times when we meet instruction,

we reason that let me process it.

Then we plan about that. I I, I don't feel ready for it.

Let me first feel ready. But trusting the Sovereign King

looks like sometimes acting before everything is even

settled. So we thank the disciples that

they were enabled to overcome any forms of confusion or fear

or even delay. And their obedience is not

because of their willpower alone.

It flows because they knew or they know who Jesus is.

The whole instructions hinge on that one phrase.

The Lord needs them. Trusting what He says is always

tied to trusting who He is. And that's why this special week

is important to us. It invites us to look keenly to

Jesus even through these defining moments of his life

where we see his authority and his humility and his suffering,

but ultimately his victory. We see this kind of King for who

he truly is. So I invite you this Passion

week to look closely to Jesus and observe him.

Because if we see Him clearly, then we are enabled to

understand and obey His instructions.

How can this look like? I invite you to read these

passages, read these stories, find time and read them.

But also I would love to invite you to join us if you are able,

for the passion. We can even see at church.

We are together. We shall be looking at Jesus in

these stories. So in the second scene we look

at the humble servant, and here Matthew draws back the cotton.

He tells us plainly why Jesus sends for the donkey and the

cold. So up to this point, Jesus was

walking everywhere. He has joined on foot and he's

like any other Pilgrim that is coming to Jerusalem.

So why is Jesus changing at this time?

He has been walking on foot. Why is he changing?

Because this is not an ordinary arrival, Jesus chooses to ride

not out of need, but for a purpose.

It is a visible sign. It is a quite clear declaration.

It is not simply entering the city, but Jesus is presenting

himself to the city. Matthew explains this in verses

four and five, saying this took place to fulfill what was spoken

by the prophet, saying say to the daughter of of Zion, behold,

your king is coming to you humble and mounted on a donkey,

and the cold the foul of a beast of burden.

By quoting Zechariah, Matthew is alerting us that indeed God is

the director of this entire drama.

Long before he had revealed the script through a prophet and now

once was that what was promised many years ago is now unfolding

right before our very eyes. So this is not just chance or

coincidence, it's a fulfillment. Every detail and every step is

was planned and is now guided by the hand of God.

And here is the question we must wrestle with.

If God is faithful to fulfill His Word, then can we trust Him

before He fill His Word even today, even now?

It is one thing to admire the faithfulness of the Lord in the

past, but it's another rely on Him even in the present.

We can point to the promises and we say fulfilled those promises

in those days then, but can we faithfully affirm that He

continues to fulfill His promises even today in the

present, here in this city of Chicago where we are living?

So the donkey ride shows us that Jesus presents himself for the

first time as a king according to the promises of God.

He comes to the people presenting himself.

But what kind of king is he? He doesn't ride on a chariot,

neither on a War Horse, but he comes on a borrowed donkey, a

borrowed donkey. And as the prophet Isaiah tells

us, this is a sign of Jesus. Humility.

What is humility is something that is internal.

You cannot see it, but what is internal in the King is made

visible before us. His humility is not hidden, it

is embodied for us to see. And every detail matters in this

scene because he also allows that donkey to be brought with

the fowl. He's unwilling to separate them.

He lets the parent to accompany the younger one for this

particular occasion of service. This portrays the gentleness of

this king. He's the king who has compassion

for his people and subjects. So this is our King, who is not

adorned in four sons splendor, but he's clothed with humidity.

And this is the invitation before us to behold our King.

This is not just a simple command, but it carries weight.

There are many things that distract us and which pray to

pay us and which stand before us under the King.

When we are called to behold the King, it is a call that we

should shift everything that is causing us not to focus on the

King and allow him to be our sovereign and the person of

attention in our lives. So the same command that was

given to Israel is given to us today to behold the King.

So what is taking our attention? We might ask ourselves such a

question. What are we focusing on apart

from Jesus? Until we come to that full

attention that other things can pull us away from Christ, then

we cannot be focused on this man, this our King.

Let me suggest some of the practical ways how you can focus

on the King in this week, the Holy Week that we are beginning

today. Maybe you can skip an even a

normal activity in your life. Is it a meal?

Is it a show, something that you enjoy, a habit?

You can skip that and instead read scripture or pray.

This is a form of fasting in itself as well, the fasting, the

skipping something and using this time to focus on Jesus.

Maybe you can set up times, brief times, either in the

morning, throughout the day and you remember, you try to think

about what was Jesus doing during this time?

What was Jesus saying around this time?

Who was he speaking to? What was he exactly, where was

he? And you try, as you are setting

this time, you are trying to imagine what Jesus was doing in

this entire week. And as we are doing that, I am

hopeful that these practices might help us encounter the king

during this Holy Week. And now let's look at this third

scene where we see the celebrated king.

The scene is set by the obedience of the disciples.

In verse 6 to 11, Matthew tells us plainly that the disciples

went and did as Jesus had directed them.

There was no hesitation, no confusion, No Fear, no delay.

They went out and performed what Jesus had instructed them.

Their faithful obedience allows God is planned to be unfolded

exactly as God intended. And this is what we see, our

obedience even in the small acts, our daily acts of

obedience. They propel the gospel story.

Our response to God's instruction becomes the

participation in the unfolding of God's purposes.

And in verse 7, we read that they, the disciples, brought the

donkey and the cold and put on them their clocks, and he sat on

them. We see another action that we

are doing. They are saddling the donkey.

They are saddling the animals for Jesus by their own

initiative. Jesus is not directing them.

In this case. There is no command that is

given to them. They see the need and they

respond to the need. They are not just mere followers

of instructions in this case. They are thoughtful and they are

willing to do something out of the need that they realize.

And here the disciples, they portray a fuller picture of

service to God. They are serving both out of

being commanded but also voluntarily.

They obey what is said, but also they give what is not asked.

We may reflect on the aspect of our service.

Are we doing only what is required or we are also willing

to respond beyond what is commanded?

Because our service is not just fulfilling an obligation,

sometimes it's responding willingly even when there is

nothing, that you are obligated to do this in your capacity.

So when we speak about winning service, this intensifies the

scene because we later see the crowds also come and join in.

Other pilgrims that we are coming in join in with the

disciples. And in verse 8, we read that

most of the crowd spread their clocks on the road and others

cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.

We see enthusiasm and they are honoring this king.

Their actions turn into a moment of a royal procession.

They lay down their clocks just as they would have done for an

important person. In fact, the scene here is

similar to a red carpet event like that which we see in Second

Kings that was given to King Jehu.

And if their clocks are not enough, they improvise with

branches. They use what they have and they

also improvise to honor this king, and they are cornering

this person in royalty. But in addition to their acts,

they now voice their honor using these words that are drawn from

Psalm 118. They are saying hosanna in the

highest, Hosanna to the son of David.

This is you comes in the name of the Lord.

They are shouting this song that other pilgrims would use many

times when they are coming to Jerusalem.

But as they're scrying out this, they're expressing 3 things.

They are making a request, they are making a declaration, and

they're uttering out praise. What is their request?

Their request is simply that hosanna, which means save or

help. They openly express their need

for deliveries. Though they have some

nationalistic undertones in their cry, expressing a need for

national freedom, but they express a real need.

They need a deliverer. They need a savior.

And then they make this declaration that Jesus is the

Son of God. They are not just pointing about

a lineage or genealogy, but they are making an affirmation.

They are giving him a title that indeed Jesus is the promised

deliverer, the one who was spoken about in the Scriptures.

And again they praised him, saying blessed is you comes in

the name of the Lord. They recognize that Jesus is not

coming with his own authority, but he's bearing the authority

of God. His mission is according to the

purposes of God. We might ask whether these

crowds genuinely understand who Jesus is, but Marshall gives us

an answer as the scene is ending.

He tells us in verse 10 and 11 that as Jesus is entering into

Jerusalem, the whole city was stared up saying who is this?

And the crowds answered, this is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth

of Galilee. So still, what we observe there

is still mystery. A lot has happened, they have

performed everything, they have said everything, but there is

still uncertainty because to call him a prophet we are not

wrong, but it falls short. It is not enough to describe who

Jesus is. So there is all the activity,

but still they have not yet received him as the Messiah King

who truly he is. So this truly illustrates

something that sometimes it is possible to say the right thing,

but still misunderstand Jesus's mission.

Then we are quoting this particular phrase from Psalm

118. But they were not understanding

how this phrase indeed, indeed relates to this man, Jesus

Christ. So they were misunderstanding.

I think that their misunderstanding was as a result

of not looking at Jesus in totality, looking at all the

portraits of Jesus, when we look at the entire portraiture of

Jesus, we are able to solve this confusion.

The three portraits that we have seen, I'm not meant to sit side

by side or to sit independently. They are meant to be seen

together. They come to confront us with

the reality because the sovereign king demands our

obedience. The humble king demands our

trust because he even let us to explain himself humbly to us,

feeble as we are. The King explains to us, calling

us to trust him. And then the celebrated king

receives our worship. And when we look or to onto all

those portraits together, they don't leave us on a new top

ground. We are called to look at this

sovereign King because if we only think about him as being

sovereign, we shall obey him just out of fear.

You know, if someone is a sovereign person, sometimes we

just obey him because you fear him, not because you want to do,

but because if he's merely A sovereign king, we would obey

him just out of fear. And if he were only a humble

king, we might just admire him. And then we don't submit to him.

It's just a weakling. Admire him, and then we don't

submit. But if he's just merely A

celebrated king, we might just join in the crowd and celebrate

him and wave palms and sing along and then walk away

unchanged. Just celebrate and go away.

But Jesus is all three in one. Matthew presents us not 3

Jesus's, but he presents us this one King.

He wants us to obey Him and look at Him in all his totality.

So, dear Emmanuel, I invite you to behold this, our King.

Let us respond to Him in obedience, trust and allegiance.

Because if we don't do that, who is our King apart from Christ?

I welcome you to this Holy Week, The name of the Father, the Son,

and the Holy Spirit. Amen.