Isaiah 50,4-9. Palmarum

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The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

Isaiah 50,4-9              2219

Palmarum  029; 6. Sonntag der Passionszeit  

Tiburtius and Valerianus, Martyrs at Rome 229

14. April 2019 

1. O Lord, our Strength, be not far from us and save us from danger, so that we always keep our trust in You, our Deliverer.  Amen. (TLH Introit for Palmarum) 

2. »The Lord who is the Lord has given Me the tongue of those who are taught, so that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning He awakens; He awakens My ear to hear as those who are taught. The Lord who is the Lord has opened My ear, and I was not rebellious; I did not turn backward. I gave My back to those who strike, and My cheeks to be slapped; I did not hide My face from disgrace and spitting. But the Lord who is the Lord helps Me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set My face like a flint, and I know that I will not be put to shame. He who vindicates Me is near. Who will contend with Me? Let us stand up together. Who is My adversary? Let him draw near to Me. Behold, the Lord who is the Lord helps Me; who will declare Me guilty? Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up.« 

  3. The Prophet Isaiah proclaims: »He who vindicates Me is near.« On Palmarum we remember how near our vindication is. Our Introit reminds us: »O Lord, draw nigh to Me and redeem Me: deliver Me from My enemies« (Psalm 69,18). Many of Jesus’ Jewish peers thought their Messiah would vindicate and redeem them from their enemy, the Romans, who ruled Judea. They long for an earthly king like the beloved David. 

4. Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palmarum like such a king! And the Jewish crowd that had gathered in the city for Passover cheered: »Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who arrives in the Name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!!« To these Jews, the Prophet Isaiah was being fulfilled: Messiah is here to redeem us from our Roman oppressors! They were, however, cherry picking their verses because in that very context of vindication, Isaiah writes: »I gave My back to those who strike, and My cheeks to be slapped; I did not hide My face from disgrace and spitting.« The Gospels tell us the following about Christ’s Passion. The Sanhedrin spit in Jesus’ face and struck Him while others slapped Him« (Matthew 26,67). The Roman soldiers from the battalion under Pilate’s command also spit on Jesus, took the reed and struck Him on the head« (Matthew 27,27.30). 

5. The Apostle Paul says of Christ’s Passion: »Jesus made Himself nothing, taking the form of a slave and humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death on a cross« (Philippians 2,5-8). Such is the Son of David, the Christ, who arrives in the Name of the Lord on Palmarum!

6. Christ’s humble, yet triumphant, entry into Jerusalem on Palmarum is of vital importance to us. Palmarum begins the final week of Lent and inaugurates the Passion Week of Christ, which we call Holy Week. Matthew writes: »And when Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, asking: „Who is this?“ And the crowds said: „This is the Prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.“ And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and He overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them: „It is written: My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you make it a den of robbers“« [Isaiah 56,7; Jeremiah 7,11] (Matthew 21,10-13).  

7. Jesus began Palmarum in Jerusalem as the Son of David, but He concluded Palmarum as the Son of Josiah. As the Babylonian Captivity drew nigh, Josiah was one of the last kings of Judah; David was his 14 times great-grandfather. Josiah was a reformer who embarked on a program of national renewal centered on the temple in Jerusalem (2. Kings 22-23; 648-609 bc). He ordered all idols removed from the temple so that it could be re-dedicated solely to the worship of the Lord alone. Josiah was a very righteous king. 

8. 600 years later the temple needed more than a rededication; it needed a complete overhaul. After Jesus had driven out everyone impeding the temple as a house of prayer, »... the Jews said to Him: „What sign do you show us for doing these things?“ Jesus answered them: „Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.“ The Jews then said: „It has taken 46 years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?“ But He was speaking about the temple of His body« (John 2,18-). The Jews wanted the Son of David to be their king, and someone greater than David rode into Jerusalem; they wanted the Son of Josiah to drive out the unclean pagans so the temple could be incorruptibly Jewish again, and someone greater than Josiah cleansed the temple. 

9. The temple must be destroyed and rebuilt; Jesus rode into Jerusalem to do this very thing. Jesus Himself is the temple that must be destroyed and rebuilt to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. All men must die (valar morghulis) and so Jesus must die to free all people from the curse of death. Jesus must die and rise again to be what the temple was all about: an innocent lamb must shed his blood in order to forgive a person’s sin. Thus the proclamation of John the Baptizer about Jesus nears fulfillment: »Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!« (John 1,29). And in His sacrifice, Christ serves all men (valar dohaeris: all men must serve). 

10. Today we acclaim the praise of the crowd: Hosanna! Blessed is He who arrives in the Name of the Lord (John 12,13). By Friday the cry will drastically change to: Let Him be crucified! (Matthew 27,23). This is the ministry of Christ Jesus, the Son of David, our King and our Savior. Jesus’ death on the cross brings life to all men and women for in His exaltation and His humiliation we see the Son of God who has drawn near to us in our time of need.  Amen. 

11. Let us pray. O Son of Man, who must be lifted up; draw all people under the shadow of Your cross, so that whoever believes in You will have eternal life in heaven. Amen. 

To God alone be the Glory 

Soli Deo Gloria

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All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27. Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © 2013 Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. 

VELKD. Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. www.velkd.de. Copyright © 2013 Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. 

Löhe, Wilhelm. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Wartburg Publishing House, Chicago circa 1912. Concordia Publishing House; Concordia on Demand.