Blessed Is the King!
April 10, 2022
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his steadfast love endures forever!
Let Israel say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
- Psalm 118:1-2
Your goodness, God is revealed in Your love. And Your love is steadfast and eternal. We say, with all Israel all humanity, that your steadfast love endures forever. May the words of our mouths and the meditations of hearts be acceptable in Your sight, oh Lord, our strength, and our Redeemer. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
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You may listen as you read or just listen:
Luke 19 says:
He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’” So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” They said, “The Lord needs it.” Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying,
“Blessed is the king
who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven,
and glory in the highest heaven!”
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”
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Lord, what do you need from us today? Do you need a donkey upon which to ride? Do you need for us to carry palm branches and cry out for your salvation? Do you need for us to watch and consider? We are so absorbed with our needs, and indeed, you invite us to lay them at your feet. Yet, you have shone us the example of one who advanced to the house of torture in order that we might be redeemed. You placed our needs ahead of your own. Let this mind be in us that was in Christ Jesus, as Paul prayed with the Philippians,
Indeed …
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.
Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
It was a Sunday. The great city was preparing for a time of religious celebration and commemoration. But there were rumors that Jesus was on his way. Folks had heard the stories about him, his teachings, his deeds of kindness, his ruffling of the feather of power, and his miracles. Rumor had it, that he might be the Messiah. And so, they waited along the way to welcome him and shouted as he came:
Blessed is the King who comes in the Name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven and glory in the highest (Luke 19:38)
Today, we join the eternal chorus of welcome as the Lord Jesus Christ enters our consciousness as the King who comes in the Name of the Lord.
He is the Prince of Peace and righteousness.
His Kingdom comes with glory and praise, but also with a cross of pain and disgrace.
Luke records but part of a stanza of the longer hymn, part of which says, from Psalm 118:
Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter through them
and give thanks to the Lord.
This is the gate of the Lord;
the righteous shall enter through it.
I thank you that you have answered me
and have become my salvation.
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Save us, we beseech you, O Lord!
O Lord, we beseech you, give us success!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
The Lord is God,
and he has given us light.
Bind the festal procession with branches,
up to the horns of the altar.
You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
you are my God, I will extol you.
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
He willingly enters into the sphere of time, space, and judgment to face whatever stands between him and his mission to bring all who welcome him into eternal fellowship with the Father.
Let us lift our voices in worship as we worship Him.
Jesus implied endorsement of the praise of the people as something flowing from their deepest sense of divinity. It was emerging from their God-connection as people made in God’s image.
Even rocks have that, Jesus says.
Even the inanimate realm is tuned to ultimate reality for it cannot exist apart from that reality.
Stones will cry out if people do not.
Such is the joy of just a glimpse of the king coming to establish a kingdom of righteousness, grace, love, peace, joy, and justice. Such is the wonderful paradox of conqueror on a lowly pack animal. Such is the glimmer of light that shines from behind the veil revealing the unfolding of prophetic hope and apocalyptic celebration.
So, they met him with palms and shouts of victorious praise.
So, they welcomed him with sounds of song and movements of dance. As if choreographed for a Broadway finale, it was less than that, a penultimate preview of glory to come. The theme will become the overture.
It becomes the backdrop against which suffering, disgrace, and humiliation will be seen in perspective in the days to come.
Long, lonely, dark days and then …
New creation, indeed, the long anticipated eighth day of creation and hope.
Hope, it is, for those who walk, even now through valley of the shadow of death.
It is hope that triggers our thinking to know that the greater reality is unveiled and disclosed. That eternity has transcended modernity and life has already overcome death.
Peace in heaven means the possibility of peace on earth.
Glory in the highest predicts and displays glory among the lowliest.
The King has arrived at the earthly epicenter of God’s geographical work on earth, Jerusalem, where He is presumed to dwell among men, the Temple.
But it is the living temple who has come to the stone and mortar temple to declare that the Temple of God shall be in the hearts of men and women.
Therefore, we celebrate Palm Sunday.
It prepares us for a meeting in the Upper Room where Jesus will bless bread and wine as his own body and blood.
It gets us ready for the garden scene of prayer and betrayal and for the outer courtyard where, can be heard, the sounds of Jesus’ trial. It gets us ready to consider his floggings, his trek to Golgotha, his agonizing and sacrificial death, and his words.
The Seven Last Words which included, “Father, forgive them, “ “Why hast Thou forsaken me,” and “Into Thy hands, I commend my spirit.”
It points to a lonely tomb borrowed from a man who shared his earthly father’s name,
It anticipates the following Sunday when an event he predicted, but none comprehended, shakes time and space forever.
This coming week is a time for medication, reflection, and contemplation.
The Triumphal entry does not conclude with the disgraceful cross, but with the glorious resurrection.
Yet, today, we are transfixed by the image of his coming into the city. We are surrounded by palm and shouts of joy. We are enveloped by the music of the moment and the resounding “hosannas” that are on the lips of the young and the old.
We are dancing in the streets, waving the palms.
We are in the moment.
Every moment has its place, and each moment is a part of a larger moment within eternity.
We take them as they come, and we embrace each one for the meaning that they reveal.
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
You are here now, waving the branch and declaring his praise.
Where will you be in the dark of Thursday when ominous words are spoken and betrayal looms?
Where will you be on Friday when the world goes dark and he gives up his spirit?
Where will you be on Saturday when there is not a glimmer of hope?
Will you be prepared to come to the tomb with ointments and spice to anoint his body and receive the surprise off your life?
Declare now, your yes to his yes and allow it to be your “hosanna of the moment.”
Amen.
God bless you.
God keep you.
God make God’s face to shine upon you.
God lift up the very countenance of God upon you.
May God be gracious to you.
May God give you peace.
Through Jesus Christ, our LORD.
Amen again.
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